Life and All That
by luberly
Summary: This is the 6th story in the RangeWoman series. This story follows immediately after The Fallout and deals with the aftermath of discovering who was trying to ruin Ranger's life. These characters belong to JE,
1. Chapter 1

I wasn't going to continue this series straight away, but so many of you asked for it that here goes. Posts won't be as regular as with the previous installments because this story is only in my head at the moment, so stick around and enjoy the ride.

These characters are not mine. They belong to JE.

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**_Stephanie's POV_**

Morning came way too soon. Despite my lack of sleep, I got up without any fuss and made my way to the bathroom to get ready. I was aware that I had to get a move on so that Ranger could see Julie before we left town. Now more than ever, that poor girl needs to know that Ranger will always be there for her.

I was packed and ready to go by 6:20, and after a hastily eaten breakfast, Ranger and I were in the car and on the way to see Julie by 6:35. While we were driving, Ranger explained the plans for today. "We're going to talk to Julie and try to help Ron explain what's going on. We will only be able to stay a short while, but I need your help to assure Julie that everything will work out. She is going to feel abandoned once her mother and I leave, so I want her to know that I will always be there for her and that Ron and I will work something out so that she is always taken care of.

"We are booked on a flight at 10:00 to head to D.C. I have an appointment at the FBI to talk to both the General and his wife shortly after we arrive. You can accompany me to my interviews, but you'll have to watch from the observation room. I'm hoping that your skills of observation and deduction will pick up something helpful."

I nodded and said, "I'll do what I can for Julie. She's a great kid and this whole situation will be very difficult for her and her siblings. I can just imagine what they're going to have to go through at school once the kids learn that Rachel has been arrested. All three of those kids are going to go through hell."

Ranger frowned again and said, "I'll talk to Ron. I have an idea, but I need to discuss it with him first. If necessary, maybe we can change their school."

After that, Ranger slipped into his zone while I thought about how to interact with Julie and the other kids. I was thinking about possible solutions when I realised I was missing a vital piece of information. I looked over at Ranger and asked, "What is it that Ron does for a living? I don't think I ever asked."

Ranger smiled and replied, "He's a civil engineer and an architect. He works for a large contracting company here in Miami and has does rather well for himself and his family."

I looked out the window and saw that we were entering the gated community where the Martine's lived. I made a hair and makeup check in the mirror and tired to prepare myself mentally for the upcoming visit.

**_Ron's POV_**

Rachel hasn't said a word to me ever since Tank and the other RangeMan people arrived last night. I'm not really bothered about her silence, but I'm terrified about telling our children what's going on. I know Ranger and Stephanie are due soon, so I'm hoping that they'll be able to help.

The kids normally leave for school about now, but when they got up this morning, I told them that today was going to be a holiday from school and work. The kids were a bit suspicious at first, but they accepted the day off with only a little curiosity.

I watched Julie look around after hearing that they could stay home today. I knew that she was looking for her mother and that she could tell that something was wrong, but she didn't voice her concerns at the time. She simply looked at me, smiled and returned to her breakfast. Rachel is still in the house, but none of the kids have seen her yet this morning. Rachel was currently in our bedroom getting showered and dressed so that RangeMan could transport her to the local FBI offices here in Miami. She has been pretty much catatonic ever since Lula explained the way things were going to be. I should feel sorry for her, but my anger and concern for our kids overshadows my sympathy for the woman I married. Hopefully that old phrase that _children are resilient_ will prove to be true.

I sat in the living room while the kids were playing in their rooms. I thought about the man that might hold my future with Julie in his hands. He is a good man, even though he scares me a little. He's intimidating, but he's done everything in his power to ensure that his daughter has had a good life. He even ensures that he sends gifts for all three of my kids when he sends one to Julie or that the gift for Julie can be enjoyed by all. I wondered what would happen if I lost paternal rights for Julie. Would Ranger request custody of Julie? How would I cope with that?

I headed to the door when the doorbell rang, but the kids beat me to it. Julie was very happy to see Ranger and Stephanie. When I got there, I shook hands with Ranger and accepted a quick hug from Stephanie as I welcomed them inside. Julie was all over Ranger and Stephanie. She asked about 1000 questions that they patiently answered. When Julie started asking more personal questions about Stephanie and Ranger's relationship, Stephanie deftly changed the subject and asked, "Julie, why don't you show me your room?"

Julie grinned and took Steph's hand and dragged her towards her bedroom. Her other siblings followed behind, hoping to get to hear some more funny stories from Stephanie. As soon as the kids were out of earshot, I looked at Ranger and asked, "So, what happens now?"

Ranger smiled sadly and said, "We should explain to the kids that Rachel has to go away. We don't need to give them too many details, but it would help them understand if they knew why Rachel was leaving. We can tell them that Rachel made some bad decisions and some mistakes. She needs to go away for a while because she needs to take responsibility for those mistakes.

"Once we explain this to the kids, we'll bring Rachel in so that she can say goodbye. She will then be transported to the Miami FBI field office where they will take custody of her and process her as needed. She will probably be transported to D.C. because that is where the bank fraud took place, but I doubt the girls will be able to see her during that time.

"Once Rachel is processed and we have a better idea of her charges and how they will proceed, you'll be able to decide whether or not to set up visitations with the kids. I know this is going to be hard for you, but I will do everything in my power to help you during this time."

I looked at Ranger and said, "Should I still proceed with the divorce?"

"That's up to you Ron. Take this time apart from Rachel and think about what you want. If you're worried about losing Julie, don't. You are a huge part of her life and I wouldn't keep you apart."

I know Ranger has said this before, but I've never really thought of Julie as anything other than my own daughter. She was 2 years old when I married her mother, so I've brought her up as if she was mine most of her life. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her because of the mistakes her mother made.

Ranger patted me on the back and said, "I won't take her away from you Ron. I couldn't do that to her. I will want to see her more often, but I could easily just spend more time down here in Miami. She will need stability and you have been a constant in her life. I don't see that changing any time soon."

I sighed with relief and said, "I've been wondering about how to shield the kids from this mess. I've been thinking about relocating. I don't know where yet, but once the news gets out about Rachel, life for us might get a little unpleasant. Some distance from Miami may be a good idea, especially since the girls are just about finished school for the year. There's only about 3 weeks left."

"Ron, I have a house in Trenton that is very isolated. It has a pool, lots of space and lots of privacy. I also have a project that would keep you busy. We have outgrown our RangeMan headquarters much faster than I ever imagined. I have purchased some land, but I have not yet hired anyone to design the new building."

I looked at Ranger like I was hearing things. "Are you serious? You'd hire me to design an entire building?"

Ranger nodded and said, "Even before this whole nightmare began, I thought about asking you. I was going to invite you and your family up to Trenton for the summer. You could work on this project and I could spend more time with Julie. It was a win-win plan. Now, the plans would have to be a bit different, but the idea is still sound. Also, my family is close by so they would be able to spend time with the kids."

I have never single-handedly designed a building. The idea of designing a building from the ground up was very attractive. I thanked Ranger and said, "I'll talk to the kids later today and give you an answer in a few days. I appreciate the opportunity."

A few minutes later, the kids came back dragging Stephanie. She looked a little shell-shocked and said, "Well, I've seen three very tidy rooms and more toys that I even knew existed. There's no reason for any of them to ever be bored."

I smiled at her and said, "Come kids, we need to talk."

**_Ranger's POV_**

I stood there and watched as Ron did his best to explain to his children that there are always consequences for your actions. He then went on to tell them that Rachel had made some mistakes and those mistakes had some severe consequences.

The kids seemed to take the news very well. I don't think they really understood what was going on. They didn't cry or complain when Ron told them that their mother would have to go away for a while. They held up really well when Rachel came in to say goodbye. The youngest asked how long Rachel would be away, so Ron knelt down and said, "We don't know yet son, but you'll see each other as soon as possible."

I saw Rachel's anger towards Ron and the rest of the adults in the room, but she didn't take it out on her kids. In fact, she genuinely looked sad when she said goodbye and walked out the front door. We all stood in the window and the kids waved as Rachel walked out to the SUV parked at the street. She smiled at her kids one last time and then she was gone.

**_Tank's POV_**

This morning was a difficult morning for Lula. She needed to supervise Rachel at all times, including when she was in the shower. During that time, Rachel was quite abusive to Lula. I could tell by the look on Lula's face when they came out of the bedroom that she was having an unpleasant time. I looked at Rachel and said, "Ron is in the other room explaining why you are leaving. He isn't giving them specific details, he's simply telling them that you've made some mistakes and that you have to pay for those mistakes. When he's done, you can go in and say goodbye. We have a schedule to keep, so we can't take all day."

Rachel was clearly seething with rage right now. She paced back and forth in the kitchen, waiting to see her kids. Hal is out in the car waiting for us. He's been in touch with the FBI agents that we are supposed to meet, keeping them appraised of our situation. We have an hour to meet up with them so we can hand Rachel over to their custody.

A second SUV is parked outside so that Lula and the rest of the guys can head back to the RangeMan offices. Hal and I will meet up with them and head back to Trenton later this evening. I planned on using the free time between to spend some time with Lula. Maybe we could go for a walk along the beach or for a quick meal before heading to the airport.

I'm not sure spending the afternoon with Lula would qualify as a formal date, but I'm willing to start small and work my way up. If this whole situation wasn't so screwed up, it would be funny how a disaster for Ranger has awoken my feelings for Lula. Maybe those feelings would have emerged even without this change now that she's working for RangeMan, but we'll never know.

We made ourselves scarce when Rachel was visiting with her kids. We stood outside the front door and waited until Ranger and Ron escorted Rachel outside. We allowed her to remain unrestrained until she was out of sight of her children. This meant that we had to pull over once we were around the corner from the house. We locked her hands to the bar on the floor of the RangeMan SUV with handcuffs.

The traffic was typical and we were running behind schedule. Hal called the FBI to let them know that we were stuck in traffic and running behind. The FBI agent was annoyed at our delay but he lived here and was well aware that the traffic in downtown Miami isn't very cooperative during rush hour. Hal estimated that we were still at least 20 minutes away and agreed to provide further updates if we were delayed further. I looked over at Hal and sighed as we fought our way through the morning rush hour traffic. It looked like my plans to spend some time with Lula may not be possible after all.

**_Stephanie's POV_**

After Rachel left, her younger two kids headed back to their bedrooms to play. Julie on the other hand, stuck around and asked a few questions that Ron and Ranger felt obliged to answer. Julie looked up at Ranger and said, "Can you tell me what Mom did to end up in so much trouble? I'm not a baby you know. I can handle the truth."

Ranger looked at Ron and after a few minutes of silent communications, Ranger said, "Well, your mother got involved with some pretty nasty people. They did some bad things and people could have been seriously hurt."

Julie rolled her eyes and said, "That was a lot of words to say not a whole lot."

I had to agree with Julie. Ranger talked around the problem instead of actually answering Julie's question. I looked up at Ranger and said, "Just tell her Ranger, she's clearly smart enough to know when you're placating her by talking around at topic. I should know, I'm an expert in being placated."

Ranger smiled at me and then looked back at Julie. "OK little one, I will tell you the truth, but you should know that your mother was influenced. She didn't do this all on her own."

Julie nodded and Ranger explained how Rachel got involved with some people who wanted to hurt him. When he talked about Rachel's desire for money, Julie actually started to laugh. "I know Mom isn't the smartest person in the world, but she really was gullible. I still love her, but that was a stupid thing to do. Even I know that if you had left us money, it would be protected in some way so I could use it for college or later in life."

She really was a smart kid. I smiled at her and said, "You'll have to be brave and strong for your brother and sister. They may not understand exactly what happened, but they will definitely miss your Mom."

Julie nodded and had a very serious look on her face. She turned to Ron and asked, "Will you still let me see Ranger? I know Mom always avoided it if possible, so I'm hoping you will be a bit more open to me visiting with him."

I saw the look of surprise on Ron's face. He walked closer to Julie and pulled her down onto the sofa beside him. He said, "As long as it doesn't interfere with your schooling, you can visit with Ranger much more frequently from now on. They have to leave now, but I'm sure we can make arrangements for your next visit soon."

Ranger nodded in agreement with Ron. He said, "I will call you tomorrow once we have a bit more information on our upcoming schedule. We'll be back to see you soon."

Julie grinned at me and hugged me. As she was hugging me she whispered, "I'm glad you and Ranger are finally together. You're perfect for him."

Julie hugged Ranger and whispered something to him and then left the room to play with her brother and sister. Ron looked at us after Julie left and said, "That girl is one smart cookie. I think I will discuss your offer to spend the summer in Trenton with Julie before I make my final decision."

I smiled at Ron and said, "Julie is one year younger and one year older than my nieces. I'm sure my nieces would love to have some new friends if you do decide to join us in Trenton."

Ranger looked down at his watch and said, "We hate to leave you to deal with this alone Ron, but we need to get going if we're going to make our plane. We have to go to D.C. to sort out this whole mess. I will call you later with information about the formal charges against Rachel. Please call either of us if you have any questions or if you simply need to talk."

Ron thanked us for all of our help and I gave him a big hug. He repeated Julie's comments about Ranger and me and then moved on to shake hands with Ranger. I moved towards the door to give the men some privacy, but I still overheard their conversation. Both men promised to keep in touch and discuss solutions for any problems. I actually smiled when I heard Ranger say, "With Rachel gone for the time being, we are her family. I intend to be involved as much as you'll let me, not just with Julie, but with her siblings as well."

"I appreciate that Ranger. I will talk to the kids about the summer and let you know soon."

I heard some pats on the back and then Ranger and Ron joined me at the door. I smiled at Ron, we yelled our goodbyes to the kids, who ran out to hug us goodbye. I got hugs from all three kids. Julie was the only one to hug Ranger, but her brother and sister both waved at him.

The Martines followed us out to our car and we waved as we drove away. Ranger immediately fell into his zone and I made myself comfortable so I could take a short nap.

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Alright, for those of you who wanted another story, you'll have to be patient with me. First drafts of all of the other stories were complete before I actually posted the first one. This story on the other hand is being written as I go. I will attempt to get a few chapters ahead before I continue posting. That way I can always make changes if I feel that the story is going in the wrong direction.

Thanks for all your feedback, encouragement and comments. Thanks in advance for your patience as I embark on this new story.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, as usual, these are not my characters. Thanks for your patience and your encouraging support. This next chapter is once again told from varying POVs. Enjoy!

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**_Cal's POV_**

We are all a little tired. Ever since most of the team headed down to D.C. and then Miami, we've been operating on a skeleton staff. When we're at full capacity, we always have 4 teams out on patrol. Right now, we have one. Similarly, at full staffing, there are two men manning the monitors on 4-hour shifts. Now, one man is working 8 hours in front of the monitors.

Luckily we only had one new install and Zip and Zero were able to handle that without incident, even though they were two men down. Binkie has done well at postponing any new customer installations and Brett has handled any customer enquiries or complaints well enough.

I've been on call 24 hours a day for the past week, but we've been lucky. We haven't had any attempted break-ins or faults with any customers, so my sleep hasn't been interrupted with emergency calls. This is good because I'm working 18 hour days just trying to keep the day-to-day paperwork under control.

Erik was working the front desk today and he just called to tell me that there is a delivery for Stephanie Plum that requires my signature. They wanted Stephanie to sign for it, but since she's not here, they need the '_man in charge_' instead. I wondered what the delivery was while I took the steps two at a time from the 5th floor.

When I reached the lobby, it was to find a very awkward looking Erik and a very angry looking flower delivery man. The man was beside himself with anger at not being allowed inside. As soon as I walked in, Erik basically handed the irate man over to me. I looked at him and said, "I can take the delivery for Miss Plum. She is not here at the moment and since this is a secure building, you go inside. Where do I sign?"

The man huffed and pulled out a pad of paper, riffling through the pages. He found the order for this arrangement and handed me a pen and pad. I signed my name, thanked the man and waited for him to leave the building before I returned upstairs with the absolutely stunning arrangement. I looked over at Erik who said, "Was it just me or did that guy seem overly interested in getting inside this building?"

I shrugged and replied, "Maybe he takes his job too seriously. Either way, check out the delivery company and the flower company. I'm going to take these up to Steph's desk and take a photo for her so she can see the arrangement. She may not even be back in time to truly enjoy them."

I waved at Erik and took the flowers up to Stephanie's cubicle. I opened the card, snapped a photo with my phone and then stood back and took a picture of the whole arrangement. I sent both photos to Stephanie and returned to my teetering pile of paperwork

**_Tank's POV_**

Shit! We're now 30 minutes late for our rendezvous with the FBI and we're still at least 5 minutes away. Hal asked whether he should call and give them our new ETA, but I figured that they already knew we were running late, so 5 more minutes wouldn't make much of a difference.

I think we've travelled less than half a mile in the last 10 minutes. This is why I hate Miami. You can't get anywhere in downtown traffic in a timely manner. In fact, I have a love-hate relationship with Miami. I love the beaches and the hectic nature of the city, but I hate the crowding and traffic.

We were meeting the FBI contact at Southeast Park near the airport. We were exiting the Airport Expressway, so we were only minutes away from the rendezvous location. I looked ahead, searching for 9th Avenue. Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye, and when I turned my head to look at the flash I had seen, I heard Hal say, "Holy Shit, good thing that that Bomber isn't anywhere near here. That looked like a car explosion."

**_Stephanie's POV_**

Ranger woke me up when we were about 5 miles away from the airport. He said he did this so that I had a few minutes to check my hair and makeup before we had to go through security, but I also think he did this because he likes to tease me when I first wake up.

"Babe, we're going to have to hurry if you want to make our plane. I need you to have your wits about you."

I rolled my eyes and said, "I'm not sure I have enough wits to keep them about me."

Ranger laughed and said, "You have some of the best instincts I've ever seen. You just need to always listen to them and trust them."

This time it was my turn to laugh. "Do you want me to listen to my instincts when they tell me to stay as far away from you as I can?"

Ranger was still grinning when he said, "Well, maybe you can ignore that one for right now. I'm sure that we can retrain your spidey sense when it comes to me."

I smiled and made one final check on my lip gloss. Everything was as good as it was going to get, so I closed the visor mirror and sat back as Ranger followed the signs to the rental car drop-off location. As soon as we returned the car, Ranger picked up both our bags and left me with my carry-on. He walked quickly and I had to almost jog to keep up. It was good that he was carrying my suitcase, because there is no way I'd have been able to keep up otherwise.

We checked in for our flight and made it through security with only moments to spare. Our gate was close to security, so we weren't late, but we were the last people to board. The first class flight attendant took our bags and helped us to our seats. Normally, I prefer the window seat, but since this was such a short flight, I let Ranger have the window.

As soon as we reached cruising altitude, Ranger pulled out his laptop and did some work. I however, leaned back in my chair and tried to sleep. I drifted in and out of sleep, having short and mixed up dreams while I slept. Each time I woke up, I knew I had been dreaming but I couldn't remember the topic of the dream. It was an odd feeling, like something was on the tip of my tongue but forgotten. Whatever I was dreaming, it was set my spidey senses alight.

The last time I woke, I must have jumped and startled myself awake. Ranger looked over and put his hand on my arm. "Are you OK Babe? Did you have a bad dream?"

I shrugged and said, "I don't know. I don't remember. Something is bothering me but I don't know what."

"Good thing it's almost time to land. You've got long enough to go to the bathroom before the seatbelt sign is turned back on."

I patted his hand on my arm and then got up to squeeze myself into the tiny cubicle. I used a bit of water to tame a few strands of hair. I also pulled touched up my makeup and lip gloss. I returned to my seat and tried to relax for the remainder of the flight.

Once on the ground, we met up with four FBI agents. Two drove with us to the detention facility and I didn't notice where the other two went. We were driving through D.C. when my phone beeped to let me know that I had a message. I looked down and saw that Cal had sent me two photos. One was of a beautiful flower arrangement and the second was of the message.

I looked at the second photo and read the message a few times before looking up at Ranger. "Did you send me flowers by chance?"

"No Babe. Why?"

"Cal sent me a photo of some flowers that were delivered to the RangeMan office. The card doesn't really indicate who sent them."

Ranger looked at me and said, "I'm sure whoever it was will come forward. Do you know any Nietzsche fans? That's one of his quotes. I have to go in and talk to the General. You can watch from in here. I'll have an earpiece so you can talk to me, but try to limit it to relevant information."

I hugged Ranger briefly and watched as he was let into the room next door. He sat down at the table and looked down at his phone. He frowned when he saw it ring, but he hung up without answering, sending the caller to voice mail.

I looked down at the photo on my phone and wondered what it meant. It said,

**_He who has a why to live can bear almost any how._**

My attention was dragged back to the interrogation room when the door opened and the General was brought in. I had seen photos of the man in uniform, but the man sitting in the next room was a shadow of his former self. He looked pitiful. As soon as he saw Ranger he started babbling his apologies about getting involved in this whole thing. He stopped immediately when Ranger held up his hand.

"I don't want to hear your apologies General. I want to know more about your wife. How did she meet you? How did she know I was the one who killed her husband? How did she convince you to go along with this plan? That's what I need from you."

The General looked down at his hands and started talking. "I met Gina just over three years ago. She was young, beautiful, and she really seemed to like me."

Ranger held up his hand again and asked, "When you first met, was she aware that you were in charge of black ops missions for our government?"

The General nodded and said, "She was at a party where a lot of high-level operatives and handlers were in attendance. I have no idea how she knew about the party or how she got an invitation, but she asked a lot of questions that implied she knew what we were doing. She never once slipped up and I didn't even question her right to be there. She flirted with me and then called me a few days after the party to ask me for coffee. We met a few times for coffee and drinks, and one night, she came home with me. We had a great time together and I asked her to be my wife a few weeks later.

"My daughter Patricia wasn't too pleased. Gina was actually 6 months younger than my daughter and Patricia thought that Gina was just after my money. I assured Patricia that Gina had her own money and we went ahead with a discreet ceremony shortly after our engagement.

"Gina never went overboard spending my money. She was a great hostess when we had guests and she was a very attentive wife. She never said or did anything to make me suspicious of her actions or for marrying me in the first place. I was a lonely man, ever since my poor Emma died 9 years ago. I was grateful for a second chance at happiness."

**_Ranger's POV_**

I sat and listened to the General's description of meeting and courting his current wife. I can understand how he fell under her spell, but I don't understand how she knew to target him in the first place. Maybe he said something to her and that's how she paid him special attention. I did pity the General, but I had to know one thing.

"Did your wife and you ever discuss the mission in Columbia where Enrique Escobar was killed?"

The General shook his head and said, "I never really talked about work with Gina. In fact, the only time I ever discussed missions in her presence was during that awards ceremony when we were first engaged. We didn't talk about specifics, but maybe she put two and two together."

I nodded and said, "I think you are right. She would have recognised Santos. They spent a lot of time together down in Colombia. Since she altered her appearance, he didn't recognise her. We did talk about the Colombian mission and someone even said that I ended the mission myself. We didn't come right out and say that I killed Escobar, but I suppose it was clear enough."

The General crossed his hands and said, "I'm really sorry Ranger. I had no idea who she was. When she sent me photos of my Patricia with a target on her head, I had no choice but to go along with her and West. I did everything I could. I knew George would enquire about your official charges so I made it a point to forget to file them. As soon as West found that out, he moved forward and kidnapped my daughter. I don't even know if she's OK."

I looked at the pain in the General's eyes and said, "Patricia is fine. When the police went to check on her, Gina was there. They were able to arrest her and get your daughter to safety."

"Thank God. Nobody would let me make a phone call here. They wouldn't even check for me or let me read the newspaper. I've been completely in the dark."

I wasn't very happy with the General, but I did sympathise with him. He only did what he did because he was afraid for his daughter. I suppose I could relate. I'm not sure I'd have done everything the same way if I was put in the same position, but I do have a few more resources at my finger tips.

I decided at that moment that I would do what I could to ensure that the General wasn't punished too severely. In fact, I was going to recommend that they drop the charges altogether, but request his retirement instead. Before I shared that information with anyone, I decided to placate the General and fill him in on the developments of the case.

"General, your wife has been taken into custody, and based on her actions when she was arrested, she won't be seeing freedom for a long time. Her accomplice was Tim West. He too has been taken into custody down in Florida. Unfortunately, West and Gina thought it would be funny to include my ex-wife in this little charade. She has also been arrested for her part in this fiasco."

The guard came in to tell us that our time was up. I looked at the General and said, "I will talk to the prosecutor on your behalf. I can't promise anything, but I will explain that you were under duress."

"Thanks Ranger, but you don't have to do that."

"I know Sir, but I want to help."

The General was led out of the room and I returned to where Stephanie was waiting. As soon as I saw her, I pulled her into a hug. She looked up at me and smiled, calming me so I was able to face my next interview.

**_Stephanie's POV_**

I watched Ranger return to the interrogation room after they brought in Gina Matthews. Or should I call her Paula Escobar? I don't know. Gina just seems easier for me right now, so that's what I'll call her. She sneered at Ranger when we walked in and said something in Spanish. I didn't understand it all, but based on a few words I did recognise, she wasn't talking about the weather.

For my sake I think, Ranger directed his questions to Gina in English. Playing along, Gina replied in the same language. Ranger sat there staring at the woman across from him for a few minutes. He then asked, "How did you know to get involved with the General in order to get to me?"

Gina smiled a wicked smile and said, "You probably won't believe me, but I didn't target the General. I genuinely liked the man. He was wealthy enough that I could maintain a certain lifestyle, and he was so busy with his work that he wouldn't annoy me too much. The funny thing is that I actually grew to like him."

I watched the woman speak to Ranger and it was clear to me that up until this point, she was telling the truth. She met and married the General and it wasn't under false pretences as originally assumed. The only thing that was not genuine was her name. I had a sudden thought and conveyed my idea to Ranger.

"Mrs. Matthews, can you tell me why you had plastic surgery? I mean, you had it even before you left Colombia. Why was that?"

Gina dropped her glare momentarily and let her fear show. I watched her try to regain her composure. "I had the surgery for two reasons. The first was that I wasn't happy with my appearance. The second was because I knew that my husband would one day find himself in trouble. I wanted to look different so that I was not easily identifiable as his wife. That way, if I ever needed to start over, I wouldn't be associated with a criminal."

Ranger seemed confused, but he maintained his blank face. I doubt Gina noticed this because she didn't seem annoyed when Ranger asked his next questions. "Were you planning on leaving Enrique? Is that why you had your surgery?"

Gina smiled and said, "I was, but you interrupted my plans before I was able to get things set up. If it wasn't for your involvement, I'd have gotten away. As soon as I found out that it was you that ruined my plans, I vowed to make you pay."

Ranger stared at Gina and asked, "What difference did it make? He was dead and out of your life?"

"They took all our money. I was left with nothing. Do you know how hard that is? I was married to a man that was hated by our whole community. Nobody would help me and that's when I learned a very important lesson."

Ranger smiled and said, "That doesn't really explain why you went after me."

Gina scowled at Ranger and said, "You ruined my life. I recognised Lester at a party I went to with the General. It wasn't until that night that I knew who killed Enrique. I vowed at that time to ruin your life in the same way. I will ruin your business and make you a pauper just like you did to me."

Ranger laughed and said, "How did you plan to ruin my business? Even if I was killed, my business would go on."

Now it was Gina's turn to laugh. She looked at Ranger, grinned and said, "It's not too late Ranger. Just because I'm locked up doesn't mean that I can't wreak my own style of havoc on you and destroy your business. He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."

As soon as Gina said that phrase, my spidey senses went berserk. Ranger noted the phrase as well because he stood up and left the room. Before he even got to me, a realisation hit me and I wasted no time in dialling the phone.

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The next chapter will be posted at some point over the weekend. I can't guarantee any kind of schedule at this time. Thanks for reading and leave me feedback if you want.


	3. Chapter 3

This is going to be an action packed chapter. JE owns the characters and would probably complain if she found out how much trouble they get into on my watch. Enjoy.

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**_Lula's POV_**

I wondered where Tank and Hal were. They should have been back hours ago. I had hoped that Tank and I would be able to take a walk on the beach before we needed to head to the airport. At this point though, I wondered if they'd even make it back in time for our flight. I wanted to call Tank, but I didn't want to nag him or anything.

I was sitting in the living room of Ranger's Miami apartment with Lester, Fiona, Woody, Bobby and Ram. We were trying to kill some time and the guys were watching a game. Lester caught my eye and spoke quietly enough so that he didn't interrupt the others. "Have you heard from Tank? I've been wondering if we should call him."

I shook my head and said, "I've thought the same thing. I just didn't want to seem like I was checking up on him or something like that."

Lester smiled and said, "Give him a call. I'm sure he'll clear things up for us."

I agreed and stood to go into the other room so I could call Tank.

"Yo."

"Hey Tank, we've been wondering what's keeping you."

"Hey Lula. I've been tied up for the last several hours with the FBI."

"Why did it take so long to hand over that hussy of a woman to them?"

I heard Tank sigh and then he said, "It took so long because 5 minutes before we arrived, the SUV that the FBI was driving, blew up."

"Say what? Was Stephanie involved?"

Tank laughed and said, "No, Stephanie was not involved. Unfortunately, three FBI agents and Tim West were killed in the explosion."

I was so shocked that the phone slipped out of my hands. When I picked it back up with shaky hands I said, "Are you shitting me?"

Every eye in the room turned to me and I pulled the phone away from my ear and put it on speaker. "Tank, the guys are here with me and Fiona. I just put you on speaker phone. I think you need to tell us what happened."

Tank agreed and said, "OK guys, I have some bad news. The SUV that was carrying West was blown up earlier today. Three FBI agents along with Tim West were killed. Preliminary reports show that a device was placed under the car and set to go off at that time.

"Hal and I were running way behind schedule because we got caught in traffic. If we had been on time, we could have been caught in that blast and Rachel would definitely have been killed."

Lester looked like he'd been slapped across the face. His expression surprised me a little, but I just listened as he said, "I'm sure that Paula had something to do with this. Hopefully they can find something in the bomb remnant to implicate her or somebody working for her."

Tank grunted and said, "The FBI promised to keep us in the loop. They also promised to keep Rachel safe until she is processed. I just hope they can come up with something. Without West, we lose some leverage against Gina."

Tank informed us that he was on his way to the RangeMan office. He'd arrive just in time for us to head to the airport. I took the phone of speaker and said, "I'll grab your bag and make sure it's with the rest of our stuff so you don't have to run around when you get here. See you soon."

**_Cal's POV_**

I was reading though the daily incident reports when my phone rang. I looked down and smiled when I saw that it was Stephanie. "Hey Steph, I hope you like those flowers."

"Cal, get everyone out of the building. I think that those flowers might have a bomb in them. The card matches something that Gina Matthews said. Hurry!"

I confirmed her message and rushed out of my office and pulled the fire alarm. I yelled that this was not a drill and for the men to get out of the building as soon as possible. I then took the flowers and carefully carried them towards the elevator. I figured that if there were explosives, I could minimise the damage to the building if I put the vase inside the car and sent it to the top floor.

The guys were rushing to the stairs so I told Brett to make sure that everyone in the apartments was notified. The alarm should wake any off-shift workers, but some might lag behind if they didn't think there was a real threat.

I used my key to send the lift to the 7th floor and started running for the stairs. On my way out the door to the stairwell, I grabbed the duty roster. I barely made it into the stairwell before I heard the explosion. I was thrown against the wall and that was the last thing I knew.

**_Ranger's POV_**

Less than 10 seconds after Stephanie hung up, my phone started beeping. Whenever any alarm is set off at RangeMan, a bulletin is sent out to me, Tank, Bobby and Lester to let the core team know of a problem. About 60 seconds later, a second bulletin went out indicating catastrophic failure at the RangeMan headquarters building.

The look on Stephanie's face betrayed her fear. She didn't think that enough time had passed for my men to make it to safety. If I'm honest, I even had my doubts, but I had to think positively in order to move forward. I pulled out my phone and called the one person in Trenton that I could trust at this point in time.

I listened as the phone rang. When it was answered, I heard "What do you want Ranger? I heard some rumours that you were killed. Apparently that was an exaggeration."

"Morelli, I need your help. Something has happened at RangeMan. I am hoping that you can help. I need somebody I trust feeding me information."

"I'll see what I can do. I just heard a request for ambulances go out over the scanner. Hopefully nobody was seriously hurt."

I thanked Morelli and hung up. I looked over at my Babe and saw the look of fear in her eyes and pain on her face. I pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back. Her breathing calmed down a little but then she pushed me away and said, "She said she was going to ruin you financially. Would she try the same thing at your other offices?"

I didn't hesitate when I pulled out my phone. My first call was to the Atlanta office. They confirmed that they received a floral arrangement that morning. I explained what happened in Trenton and they sent out the evacuation alarm immediately. I repeated the same call to Atlanta while Stephanie called Tank in Miami.

**_Tank's POV_**

Today was shaping up to be one hell of a disappointing day. Hal and I just returned to the Miami office and we would need to leave for the airport in less than 20 minutes. None of my plans for today held up because of the car bomb and stupid Miami traffic. Hal headed up to the top floor and I headed to the control room.

I walked down the hall and noticed a large bouquet of flowers in the alcove across from the elevator. It stood out simply because this was a RangeMan building and we almost never have flowers. As I walked into the control room, my phone beeped. I looked down and saw that it was a catastrophic failure message about the Trenton office. Before I was able to take action however, my phone rang.

I answered to hear a panicked sounding Stephanie. "Tank, evacuate the RangeMan building. A bomb was sent into the Trenton office inside a flower arrangement that was delivered within the past 24 hours. Get everyone out."

Since I was in the control room, I didn't have to go far to issue the order. The alarm went off and an announcement was made that a suspected explosive device was in the building. I knew where the flowers were located so I instructed that everyone use the north stairwell to exit the building. I then ran as fast as I could and met up with the Trenton team as they made their way out of the building.

When we got to the street level, I found Lula and hugged her tight. She looked at me with confusion but before I was able to offer her or any of the men an explanation, the building we just existed exploded and then my phone went berserk. In fact, both Bobby's and Lester's phones also went berserk. They looked at me and I motioned for them to come over.

"Guys, we have a situation. It seems that Gina Matthews has somehow put a bomb in all of the RangeMan facilities. We don't know if this is limited to the offices or not. I need you Bobby, to go to the Martine's. Take Lula and get them to a hotel or something. We can't guarantee that our safe houses are safe anymore. Keep an eye out for tails or any other signs of surveillance."

Bobby nodded and Lula gave my hand a squeeze before they left. I looked at Lester and the other guys and said, "We all know that RangeMan has procedures for this type of event. Unfortunately, the procedure only accounts for a single office failure. We need to get up and running as soon as possible. The Miami office was about 1 month away from moving to a new office. Lester, go get Silvio and find out how quickly we can get things up and running at the new location."

Lester went off to talk to Silvio and I went looking for Manuel, the head of the Miami office. I explained the situation to him and we came up with a plan to ensure all Miami customers that despite the loss of our offices, we were still at full strength. All available men were sent out on patrol so any breaches can be dealt with in a timely manner. It was standard protocol, but we've never had a reason to use it before. Here's our chance to prove to ourselves and our customers that our safeguards work as planned.

**_Ranger's POV_**

Gina swore that she was going to ruin me financially and she's made a pretty good attempt. The Trenton office was already working with depleted staff, but now it's pretty much incapable of running at all. Hector, Woody, Ram, Hector and Hal were the only two staff members from Trenton to make their flight back to Trenton. Hector assures me that if his office was not destroyed in the blast, he could get Trenton up and running within hours from an alternate site.

Morelli called back and told me that Cal was in the hospital because he was injured in the blast. Joe informed me that the RangeMan building in Trenton was not completely destroyed, but most of the apartments were no longer habitable. The control room was mostly in tact but the elevator and the elevator shaft were ruined. The building inspector said that the building was stable enough to retrieve any necessary hardware and equipment but he advised against working on site. This meant that we would be able to get into the building and salvage what we could and then relocate. Hopefully Hector would be able to come up with a suitable solution.

Morelli went on to offer some help. He explained that there was an empty office building in downtown Trenton. He offered to contact the real estate agent responsible for that building on my behalf to see if we could temporarily relocate there. I agreed to this and thanked Morelli by saying, "I really appreciate that Morelli. I'll make it up to you somehow when we get back to Trenton."

I could hear Morelli chuckle and say, "There's no need Ranger. You've been through a lot and this is the least I could do to help. Despite our differences, I have always respected you and your men. I'll let you know as soon as I talk to the realtor."

I thanked Morelli and got off the phone. I thought about what he said. Cal's quick thinking probably saved many lives and I would make sure that his recovery is as comfortable as possible. I've placed Zip in charge of the Trenton offices until I return. His one and only task is to assure our customers that despite our difficulties, we can still maintain our high-level of security.

I felt that my presence in Trenton was now more important than ever, but before I could head home, I needed to talk to the FBI. I was positive that Gina was responsible for these bombings, but at the moment, we only have the photos that Cal sent Steph and the interview transcripts with Gina as proof. As soon as our meeting with them is over, Stephanie and I will return to Trenton. The RangeMan jet is already on its way here so we can get back as quickly as possible.

Out of all of the offices, the Boston office received the worst of it. Their entire building was completely destroyed and at current count, there are two fatalities and at least ½ a dozen seriously wounded, including the first and second in command. I have put one of the surviving members in command and have transferred all monitor controls to Atlanta.

By a fluke, the Atlanta office managed to survive the attack completely unscathed. The local Ella equivalent saw that the flowers had little water so she topped up the vase and that shorted out the electronics required to activate the bomb. As a result, the Atlanta office is scrambling to set up additional hardware and they are bringing in extra staff to ensure that monitor duty for Miami, Trenton and Boston are covered.

RangeMan needs to make sure that our round-the-clock customers are covered, even at minimised capacity. It would be expensive to maintain our expected level of service. I'd have to call in every contractor who ever worked in Boston and Trenton, but I will not let this woman ruin my dream. Not now when my Babe has joined us and we're doing so well.

To add insult to injury, I finally listened to Tank's message. Tim West was dead, and without his testimony against Gina, we had to rely on a lot of circumstantial evidence. I knew that over time, we'd find the necessary evidence to use against Gina. Now, I hoped that what evidence we did have would be sufficient for the FBI to keep her behind bars.

I had to step away and calm myself. The rage that was building up in me was going to come out at an unwanted time and place if I didn't get a handle on it. Normally I would head down to the gym and work off some of my anger but that wasn't a possibility right now. I turned as I heard the door to the meeting room open. My Babe looked at me and walked closer. As soon as she was within an arm's length, I pulled her towards me and I kissed her like I've never kissed her before. I poured all of my love, anger, fear, hope and desire into that kiss.

**_Lula's POV_**

It only took Bobby and me about 20 minute to get to Ron's house. As soon as we pulled up in front of his house, it was clear that Ron had heard the news about RangeMan. He hurried out to the car and asked, "Is everyone OK? I heard about RangeMan on the news."

Bobby answered him and assured him that everyone was OK. "We're actually here to protect you and your family. Whoever is behind this also attacked three other RangeMan buildings across the country in a coordinated attack. We need to get you and your kids to safety just in case there is another bomb. Did you receive any deliveries today?"

Ron shook his head and I breathed a sigh of relief. This was good news. Regardless, we couldn't guarantee a delivery was yet to reach them so I said, "Ron, we need you and the kids to each pack a suitcase. For now, we'll stay local so you don't need to worry about packing for a different climate. If we decide that Miami is not a safe environment, we will have to move you, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just to be safe, please take your passports. We don't want to have to come back if we need to travel by plane somewhere."

Ron nodded and we all went inside. I helped the girls and Ron helped his son. I mentioned that we might have a pool where we were going so all of the kids included their swim suits. Once everyone had a filled suitcase, we enabled the security alarm locked up the house and headed to a very family friendly hotel in Fort Lauderdale.

The trip to the hotel went by without incident. We even played a few car games that the kids always won. When we arrived at the hotel, the kids were ecstatic to find that not only did the hotel have a pool, but it also had a 10-storey waterslide. We managed to secure a suite that had a living room, a full kitchen and four bedrooms. There was enough room so that each of the kids could have their own room and two RangeMan personnel could sleep on the large sofas in the living room. The suite was huge and we were lucky that it was available.

As soon as the rooms were selected, the kids begged their father to let them go to the pool. Ron agreed and Bobby and I separated. Bobby stayed at the top of the waterslide and I went down to the pool area. Ron would travel back and forth as the kids went back up to go down the slide. This plan ensured that none of the kids would be alone except when they were sliding down 10 stories.

**_Ranger's POV_**

We met with the FBI and showed them the interview transcript between Gina and me, as well as the photos of the flowers and card from Cal. After seeing this new evidence, the FBI assured me that they had enough to hold onto Gina Matthews. If for any reason, the evidence was not enough to arrest her for the explosions or her involvement in Lester's kidnapping and my false arrest, her immigration status was enough to ensure that she stayed in FBI custody indefinitely.

With the FBI's assurances about Gina, Stephanie and I headed to the airport to await the RangeMan jet. The pilot had just called me to tell me that they are about 10 minutes out, so my Babe and I had a little bit of time to kill. I wrapped my arms around her and asked, "Do you mind if I stay at your place tonight Babe? It seems that my apartment is not available."

My Babe actually smiled and nodded as she wrapped her arms around my waist and leaned into me for a hug. We stood there and I held my Babe until our attention was drawn to the incoming RangeMan jet that was less than 1 or 2 minutes from landing. I looked into my Babe's eyes and started to reassure her that everything was going to be fine when I saw a bright flash reflected in her eyes, just before we were both knocked to the ground.

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Let me know what you think. I can't guarantee when the next chapter will go up, but definitely at some point next week. Please be patient with me. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the delay, but you know how it is. I don't want to write and post straight away. I needed to get a few chapters ahead and go back and do some fine tuning. Good thing I did that or I would have published a bit of a glaring mistake.

Enjoy this new chapter.

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**_Stephanie's POV_**

I knew something bad had happened when I saw the bright flash of light in the sky. When we were thrown backwards, I hit my head on the ground and was knocked unconscious. When I came around, debris from the plane was scattered all around us. I looked around for Ranger and saw that he was a few feet away and still knocked out.

I rolled over and groaned with pain as I stood. I went to take a step and my leg went out from under me, causing me to fall back to the ground. I looked down at my leg and saw that a large piece of shrapnel was stuck in my calf. I knew enough basic first aid to know that I shouldn't pull out the metal. I also knew that I needed help so I tried to call to Ranger. I got no response from him so I looked around me and saw that my handbag was only a few feet away.

I crawled as best as I could and managed to reach my bag. I dug around and found my phone. It slipped out of my blood covered hand three times before I was able to grab hold of it and dial a number in my phone book.

"Bomber, I am assuming that you are on your way to Trenton by now. What can I do for you?"

"Tank, we need your help. The RangeMan jet just exploded above the runway. Ranger is still knocked out and I have a huge piece of metal stuck in my leg. I am bleeding pretty badly and I don't know how much longer I can stay conscious. Please help."

I heard Tank confirm that help was on its way before I passed out again.

**_Bobby's POV_**

The more information I got from the various offices, the more I began to feel that my presence in Miami was wasted. I just spoke to Tank and he has sent all remaining Trenton RangeMan employees back to Trenton with the exception if me, Lula and himself. Lester was dispatched to take over in Trenton and I was ordered to head up to Boston and help out as well as I could.

My medial training would help ensure that any of the Boston men who insisted on working, were physically strong enough. I was to assess the injured and put only those in the field that needed to be there. The Miami office is in good hands, so there's little point in me sticking around.

I was packing up my bag when my phone rang. Tank relayed the information about Ranger and Stephanie and I hit the ground running. I told Lula that she was on her own until she heard from Tank. She looked a bit worried but I told her that she'd be fine. We were pretty sure that Ron and the kids were not a target not that Rachel was out of the way.

I hurried to the airport and managed to make a commuter flight. By the time I arrived in D.C., we got word that both Stephanie and Ranger were taken to the hospital. I drove directly there and I arrived in time to ensure that the best orthopaedic surgeon was brought in to work on Stephanie's leg. Without that surgeon, she may have lost her leg below the knee.

Ranger was also in pretty bad shape. He had dozens of pieces of pieces of shrapnel embedded in his back. One piece punctured his lung, and when it collapsed during surgery, he went into cardiac arrest. They were able to get his heart started again and repair all of the damage from the shrapnel.

Due to the number of penetrating injuries, they have put Ranger into an induced coma. They tell me that any movement at all could jeopardise his recovery, so it is the best solution.

**_Tank's POV_**

It's a good thing that I sent Lester up to Trenton to take over because Ranger isn't going to get there any time soon. Based on what Bobby has told me, neither Ranger nor Stephanie will be going far. I pulled out my phone and called Lula.

"Hey Lula, I'm calling to let you know that I'll be there shortly. I need to tell you something so you're prepared when I get there, but you can't relay this information to anyone."

"Sure Tank, what's up?"

"Stephanie and Ranger were both injured when the RangeMan jet exploded. They weren't onboard yet because the plane was just landing when the explosion happened. They were both caught with shrapnel and are headed to the local hospital."

"Oh my god. What can I do to help?"

"I'm on my way there with two men who will stay with Ron and his two younger kids. You and I will accompany Julie and take her to D.C. so she can go to the hospital where Bomber and Ranger have been taken. We will stay in communication with Ron throughout so he can be sure that Julie is safe. When I arrive, I will talk to Ron and get his permission. I need you to discretely pack up a bag for Julie and then you and I will take Julie to the airport."

Lula agreed to follow my orders and went off to pack a bag for Julie and await my arrival.

**_Ron's POV_**

Something has happened. I can tell by the change in Lula's body language and behaviour. I want to ask her about it but she's in the middle of a game with the kids and they seem to love her. Whatever is wrong, I'm positive that it's not more danger for me or the kids. I have a feeling that something more serious has occurred.

I was watching the kids give Lula a sound beating on a board game when there was a knock at the door. I smiled at the kids and went to find Tank standing there. "Hi Ron, we need to talk. Can we go into your room for a moment?"

I led the way and Tank followed me. He closed the door and once we were alone, he said, "There's been another explosion. The RangeMan jet blew up just as it was landing in D.C. As you know, Ranger and Stephanie were supposed to be on that jet. Unfortunately, they were caught in the explosion and both suffered some pretty serious injuries.

"I was hoping that you would be willing to let Julie come with us so she can see Ranger. I think Julie needs to go see him."

I nodded and said, "Would you be with her?"

Tank nodded and said, "Yes, I'll also have Lula with me. We'll leave two men here to ensure that you and your other kids remain safe."

"OK, but before I say she can go, I think we should tell her what's going on so she can make her own decision."

I opened the door and called Julie into the room. She jumped and skipped her way into the room, smiling up at Tank, who returned her smile.

I looked at Julie and said, "Julie, Ranger and Stephanie have been in an accident. They are both in hospital in D.C. right now. Tank has come to see if you want to go and see him."

Julie's face remained calm and she reminded me so much of Ranger at that point. I was proud of how she handled herself and I think that some of that is nurture over nature, but not her blank face, that was pure Ranger. She looked up at me and then at Tank and said, "I'll go, but I think we all should go. With Mom in jail, you and Ranger are now the parents. I think it would be good for us all to get to know him better. If we do spend the summer in Trenton like you mentioned my brother and sister will never be comfortable around Ranger unless they get used to him."

Tank grinned and said, "That can be easily arranged. I can't guarantee that we'll find a hotel as nice as this in D.C., but I'm sure we can find something that is a close second."

I knew that if we did go to D.C., it would mean that my job in Miami was pretty much over. I asked Tank for a few minutes of privacy so I could make a few phone calls. I called my boss and explained the entire situation. He was very sympathetic but he couldn't hold my job open forever. I thanked him for his understanding and resigned.

I walked out of my room to find the kids all piled up on top of Tank, trying to tickle him. The kids were all giggling and laughing. It was good to see the kids happy. I called the kids towards me and said, "How would you guys like to go on a plane ride?"

My youngest, 6 year old little Emma, crawled up onto my lap and asked, "Can I sit by a window Daddy? I'm the youngest and the littlest so I never get to look out the window."

I smiled at my daughter and said, "Of course little one. It's your turn."

I looked up at Tank and he smiled and said, "I'll go make the arrangements. Why don't you all go and pack your bags. My 8-year old son Diego, who is normally shy around strangers, looked at Lula and said, "Can Lula help me? I can't lift my suitcase all alone."

I laughed at my son and then looked at Lula. She was grinning at Diego so I nodded and the two of them walked into his room and the rest of us went to pack our bags. Tank came back a few minutes after we all lugged our suitcases into the living room and handed me several pieces of paper. It was a set of boarding passes for a flight first thing in the morning.

**_Stephanie's POV_**

When I woke up, it wasn't overly surprised to find myself in a hospital. I turned my head and could see somebody standing in the shadow. At first, I was worried that it might be somebody there to hurt me but then I realised that the person was reading my chart. I didn't say anything, but once they closed the chart and moved forward to put it back in the tray by the door, I smiled.

I cleared my throat and Bobby rushed to my side. "How are you feeling?"

I didn't answer right away because I was assessing exactly how I was feeling. I looked at Bobby and said, "I'm fine. There is little pain. What's the prognosis?"

Bobby looked me directly in the eyes and said, "Well, you have a few screws in your leg. The piece of metal that went through your leg broke your fibula, the smaller bone in your leg. It also took a chunk out of the larger bone. A very famous orthopaedic surgeon from Bethesda was brought in at my request and you are expected to make a full recovery. It will be hard and you'll need a lot of physical therapy, but you will recover."

I grimaced at the idea, but then said, "If you'll help me with the physical therapy, I'm sure I can handle it."

Bobby smiled down at me and then said, "Stephanie, there's more. Ranger had dozens of pieces of metal protruding from his back. During surgery, Ranger's lung collapsed and his heart stopped. They were able to get it started again, but he's not in good shape Steph. They have him in an induced coma because any movement, even the slightest jarring could jeopardise his recovery."

My voice was a bit shaky when I asked, "Is he going to be OK?"

Bobby moved closer and took my hand before answering. "We don't know yet. He's one of the strongest men I know. He survived a bullet to his neck and chest so I'm sure he can survive this. We just have to wait and see."

I nodded and then asked, "Can I see him?"

Bobby shook his head and said, "He's still in recovery from his surgery. He will be moved to a private room later this afternoon."

"Could he be moved in here?"

Bobby thought for a moment and said, "I'll go find out. I don't see why they wouldn't, even if their policies don't allow men and women to share a room. I'll pull a few strings. Now, do you think you might be up for a few visitors?"

I nodded, assuming it would be one or two of the Merry Men. I pushed myself further up the bed into a more comfortable sitting position. I looked up when the door opened and I grinned as three kids and four adults entered my room.

**_Julie's POV_**

I couldn't believe it when Tank told me that Ranger was injured again. This time though, it sounded like it was worse than when he was shot. And to make things worse, Stephanie was injured as well. I was really worried about Ranger. It wouldn't be fair if he didn't make it after finally getting together with Stephanie. I barely slept all night waiting for our flight the next morning.

My brother and sister saw this as an adventure. They had only been on a plane once before so they approached this journey with a little less worry and a bit more excitement. Tank got us 6 seats together in first class on a flight. I sat beside Tank while Diego sat beside Lula and Emma sat beside Dad. Emma was so excited to look out the window and Diego was so taken with Lula that he didn't seem to notice the pressure changes when we took off.

Once we arrived at the hospital, Bobby met us and filled us in. He said that Stephanie was going to be OK and that Ranger was being kept in a coma. Bobby said that this was normal with internal injuries like Ranger had. It ensures that the patient stays immobile so their wounds can heal more quickly.

Since we can't see Ranger right now, I begged to go and see Stephanie. We all agreed. My Emma and Diego both like Stephanie a lot, so it will be fun. Bobby promised us that Stephanie's injuries were not too bad and she was in relatively good spirits. I looked at the big group and said, "Is the room big enough for all of us to go in at once?"

Bobby nodded and let me go in first. I saw Stephanie smile when we all walked in. I moved over to the side of her bed and asked, "Are you in too much pain for me to hug you?"

"Of course not sweetie, in fact, I'd accept a hug from anyone who wants to give me one. Just steer clear of my elevated leg and I'll be fine."

Stephanie barely finished her words before I rushed over to her and wrapped my arms tightly around her neck. I was quickly followed by Diego and Emma. As soon as the three of us exchanged greetings with Stephanie, Ron called us back to give Stephanie a bit of air. I watched as Ron approached Stephanie and sat back and listened to my siblings chatter with Lula, Bobby and Tank.

**_Ron's POV_**

I saw Stephanie flinch when all three of my kids were hugging her. I called the kids back to give Stephanie some space and I explained to them that they had to be more careful. I put a hand on Stephanie's shoulder and asked "How are you really doing Steph? I don't want you to be overwhelmed by my kids."

Stephanie smiled sweetly and said, "I'm fine Ron. I'm actually really glad to see you and your kids. It'll help take my mind off Ranger."

I nodded and said, "I'm sure Ranger is going to be fine Stephanie. He's young, he's strong and he has you and Julie to live for."

Stephanie gave me a funny look and said, "What about your work? Won't they complain if you're here?"

This time, it was my turn to make a funny look. "Actually, I resigned today. My boss was really good about it but we have some major projects coming. They can't move forward without me so I resigned so they could find a suitable replacement. They can't hold my job though, so I can't go back there when things quiet down."

"I'm sorry to hear that you had to resign Ron. I'm sure your skills will be needed because RangeMan will need that new building now more than ever. In fact, they may need more than one. The Boston office was also destroyed."

"We can worry about that once you and Ranger are better. For now, I want you to focus on getting better. Why don't I take the kids back to the hotel and get settled in. You can get some rest and we will come back later once Ranger has been brought down."

Stephanie nodded so I went to talk to the kids and explain that Stephanie needed her rest and that we would come back later. Julie wanted to argue, but she took my suggestion and went to say goodbye to Stephanie.

**_Lula's POV_**

Stephanie looked a little tired, but overall, she didn't look as bad as I had expected. I guess the drugs they have her on are performing their duty well. She is smiling and seems genuinely happy to see us. She accepted hugs from all of the kids and then she talked to Ron for a few minutes.

I went to talk to my skinny white girl as soon as Ron left her. "Hey Lula, I'm glad to see that you're OK. This whole day has been a bit of a nightmare."

I nodded and said, "Yeah, I know. I can't believe what has happened. You'll be happy to know that even with Ranger out of commission, the rest of the Merry Men in every city are pulling together and getting things done. RangeMan is safe. We're stretched to the limit, but we're coping."

Stephanie smiled and said, "I hope we are able to cope. If we can't, Gina or Paula or whatever that bitch is called, will get her way. She'll financially ruin Ranger."

"Nuh-uh, the Merry Men are really pulling out all the stops. Lester is running things in Trenton. Bobby was supposed to head up to Boston, but Hal has gone instead. Miami was only down for 6 hours and Atlanta was able to cover for Trenton and Boston monitoring duty."

Stephanie looked shocked. "Wow, Ranger is going to be very proud of his men when he comes around."

I agreed and said, "That's not all. Certain members of the TPD have also helped out. In fact, Joe Morelli helped them secure a building at short notice so they could get RangeMan up and running. Big Dog, Carl and Eddie all helped sift through the rubble and find equipment that could be salvaged. Lester says it was pretty impressive."

"I can't believe Joe actually helped. I know Ranger called him and asked for his help when we first got notice about the explosion in Trenton, but I had no idea that he went that far. Ranger will be very grateful once he's better. I'm even grateful."

I nodded and said, "I know. It was mighty big of Super Cop to step up and do a favour for Batman."

I watched Stephanie laugh and then grimace. I guessed that her medication was beginning to wear off. I stood back as Julie came to say goodbye. As soon as Julie returned to her father, I looked down at Stephanie and said, "It looks like we're heading to the hotel to get settled in. We'll come back later during afternoon visiting hours. Hopefully Batman will be here so we can see how he's doing."

Steph smiled and said, "He'll be sleeping, but it will be nice for Julie to see that he is alive."

I waved at Steph and Bobby as we headed out. Bobby promised to call us if anything changed or there was any news. While we were walking towards the elevator, Diego came up beside me and took my hand in his. I smiled down at him and looked over at Ron. He nodded his approval and we made our way to the hotel with plans to return later.

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Sometimes, I find it hard to move from an action packed chapter to one that needs to move the story forward. Hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring. Hopefully the jumping POVs didn't make it too difficult to follow.

Let me know what you think and I'll get onto the next chapter soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Next chapter is up... Enjoy

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**_Stephanie's POV_**

After the gang left, Bobby arranged for my pain medication to be topped up. As a result, I fell asleep. When I finally woke several hours later, a second bed was in the room. I looked over at Ranger's sleeping form and was almost hypnotised by the rhythmic up and down movement of his bare chest as he breathed.

I smiled at the thought of drooling over a man in a coma, but then again it was Ranger. Even when he's seriously injured, he still looks good. He was two days past being clean shaven and I'm sure he'll be frustrated when he wakes up to find the beginnings of a beard. The only other time he allowed his facial hair to grow was when he was on the run when accused of killing that Ramos guy.

If memory serves correctly, Ranger was far scarier with a beard than he is without. He is also a little sexier with a few days worth of growth than he is without. It's a balancing act I suppose. One or two days are sexy. More than that could be considered as scary. I looked at the space between Ranger's bed and my bed and wondered if I could reach out and touch him from here.

I stretched out my arm and if I shifted a little to my right, I could just reach his shoulder. I don't know why, but that little amount of physical contact calmed my nerves and reassured me that Ranger really was going to be OK. All he had to do now was wake up.

I turned towards the door when I heard someone clear their throat. "Hey Bobby, what time is it?"

"It's about 2 in the afternoon. Tank, Lula, Ron and the kids are all outside waiting to come in for a visit. I think Julie is a little scared to see Ranger. She might think he's in worse shape than he really is. I thought it was best to wait until you were awake so you could help me reassure her."

I smiled at Bobby and said, "Let them in. I'd be happy to see them. It will well me pass the time in a more pleasant manner. Before you let them in, could you do something to cover Ranger up? If Lula sees his bare chest, I'm not sure what she'll do. It would be best for everyone involved if he's not so naked."

Bobby laughed and returned a few minutes later with an extra large hospital gown. Bobby quickly draped the gown over Ranger and then went to retrieve our visitors. During that time, I raised the head of my bed with the remote so I was sitting more upright. By the time the kids ran in, I was sitting and smiling.

Little Emma was the first to reach my bed. She climbed up and very carefully sat on the space beside my right hip. She looked up at me and then over at Ranger and said, "You look good Stephie, but Mr. Ranger is still sleepy."

I laughed and said, "I am feeling much better Emma, and you're right. Ranger is sleepy. He'll probably stay asleep for a little while yet."

Diego stayed further back. He didn't seem to want to leave Lula's side. It was actually rather sweet. Lula didn't seem to notice or even mind the attachment the boy had formed for her. She simply held his hand and let him lead her forward slowly.

Julie on the other hand, practically ignored the rest of us as she moved to the far side of Ranger's bed. Bobby had warned the kids that under no circumstances could they jar or bump Ranger or his bed. As a result, Julie just stood beside him and stared down at him. I could see that she was whispering to him but I couldn't hear let alone understand what she was saying. The two words I did hear were in Spanish, so I assumed she was speaking in Spanish.

Julie looked up and caught my eye. She smiled at me and continued her speech at Ranger. After Emma and Diego calmed down a little, Julie made her way over to me and gave me a big hug. "How you feeling Steph?"

"I'm getting there. My leg only hurts if I try to move it, and now that it's tied up in this traction thing-a-ma-jig, it's much harder to jar or move. It's awkward, but it helps. Bobby says that without this, I'd be in constant pain and my leg would take much longer to heal."

Julie nodded and then looked over at Ranger. "He's going to be OK, isn't he?"

"Bobby says he should be. We'll know more in a couple of days when they wean him off of the medication that is keeping him in a coma. In the meantime, we just have to keep talking to him and know that everything will be alright."

Visiting hours lasted until around 8PM so everyone got to witness the horrible food the hospital was serving. In true form, Lula took one look at the tray and said, "How can they expect you to eat that crap. I'm not sure it even qualifies as food."

I laughed at this and said, "That's OK Lula, I don't really have much of an appetite."

"I wouldn't either if I was you. Even with our new diet, I wouldn't want to eat that. Why don't I go get us all something to eat? I'm sure there's something healthy that tastes good around here."

Bobby agreed and said, "That's a great idea Lula. You'll need a hand. I can join you if you want."

"No! I want to be the extra hands."

I looked down to see Diego quickly stand and move over to the door. We all laughed and wished Lula and Diego luck. Ron smiled after his son was gone and said, "I'm going to have to watch that one. If he's as smooth with the ladies when he's a little older, we're in for a world of trouble."

Tank laughed and said, "He's going to learn an early lesson if he thinks he's going to steal Lula away from me."

Ron laughed and said, "I'm sure he'll be fine. Lula is so great with him and I think he just misses Rachel. He's always been so close to her."

When Lula returned with the food, we all ate, laughed and talked. Well, they all ate. I wasn't actually lying when I said that I had no appetite. I did manage to force down the green jello though. While I was eating it, we debated its flavour. I wasn't sure what it was, but Emma was sure that it was lime. I thought it tasted more like apple, but since my appetite was so poor, my taste buds may also have been sub-par.

During our arguments over the flavour, Bobby snuck out of the room. When he returned, he had 4 more pots of jello. Three were green and one was red. He handed the red one to me and the green ones to the kids. "Why don't you find out for yourself whether this jello is lime flavoured or apple flavoured." The kids gratefully accepted their treat and I set mine aside for another time.

When evening visiting hours were over, everyone reluctantly left. I hugged everyone and they promised to come back in the morning to visit. After they left, Bobby returned and said, "I'm going to head back to the hotel for the night. I'll be back first thing in the morning and the hospital has my number in case something happens and I am needed straight away."

"Thanks Bobby, go get some rest. I'm sure we'll be fine here. You know Ranger, ever the conversationalist. I'm not sure I'll notice much of a difference, even if he is asleep."

Bobby laughed and said, "I'll be sure to tell Ranger how you feel when he finally wakes. Good night Steph. Call if you need anything."

Now that I was alone with Ranger, the sudden quiet overwhelmed me a little. My fear returned and I looked over at Ranger to see if he appeared to be in pain. The look on his face was relaxed and calm, so I assumed the drugs were doing their job and he was getting better. I just kept staring at him, watching his chest rise and fall. I was so enthralled or hypnotised that I didn't notice the nurse come in to check on us.

"How are you doing dear?"

I jumped at the question and managed to knock the tray that had been sitting on my table to the floor. Luckily it was mostly empty so it didn't make too much of a mess. I apologised to the nurse, who just laughed it off. "Don't worry. If I had that to look at," she pointed at Ranger, "I'd probably day-dream as well."

I laughed and asked, "Is there any word on him? Do you know when they'll allow him to wake up?"

The nurse shook her head and said, "Not tonight. The doctor will be back tomorrow morning to look at his chart and review the readouts from his monitors. He will have a better idea at that time. Now, how is your leg feeling? Are you in any pain?"

I thought about it for a moment and realised that there was a bit of a dull throb. It hadn't bothered me when I had visitors, but now that I was alone with nothing else to occupy my mind, I could see it getting painful. I relayed this information to the nurse and she topped me up with more pain medication. She bid me goodnight and promised to check back in a few hours. I changed the elevation of my bed so it was more comfortable for sleep and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

**_Ron's POV_**

Despite Bobby's assurances, Julie really was worried about Ranger. She begged me to let her stay with Steph earlier, but I didn't think it was a good idea. Even if the nurses would have let her stay, Stephanie would have felt obligated to keep Julie company. I don't know Stephanie very well, but I know her well enough to tell that she was exhausted when we left. It took a lot out of her to stay focused and engaged with the kids and us adults for several hours. It was best to leave her to her rest.

At one point during the evening, Tank stepped out of the room to take a telephone call. When he came back in, he looked a bit more relaxed. It wasn't until we returned to the hotel and the kids were put to bed that he explained what was going on to Lula and me.

"I just got off the phone with one of our lawyers. They have successfully acquired a piece of land in Boston that we have had our eye on for at least 2 years. We never really needed it because the Boston office was large enough for our purposes, but now that we need a new office, we jumped at the opportunity to buy that land.

"They have also finally managed to buy the warehouse in Trenton in the adjacent lot to the remains of the current RangeMan building. As a result, we will need some plans drawn up as soon as possible. Now Ron, I know that Ranger offered you the job in Trenton, but would you still consider taking the job if we added a second building to the mix?"

I looked at Tank and asked, "How quickly do you need these plans? I would need lot dimensions, building regulations, RangeMan requirements and a lot of other information before I'd even be able to give you a preliminary set of drawings. With Ranger out of commission, I'd be afraid of doing something wrong."

Tank smiled and said, "The Boston offices would be needed first as the lot is completely bare. The Trenton office can wait because they have to clear the site before any building work could commence. We're looking at a minimum of 6 months before we could start in Trenton. The Boston office can be pretty much a replica of what they used to have downtown, with more space and larger rooms. Ranger actually has some basic drawings back in Trenton about what he wanted for the Boston office."

I thought for a few minutes and said, "I will accept the job with both buildings. It will be good experience for me. However, I do not want to move forward without Ranger's OK. I will come up with structural plans and drawings, but I want him to sign off on them before we start any actual construction work."

Tank nodded and said, "I'm sure we can do that. The lawyers have already submitted a 10-story office/residential building request for the Boston site. They don't foresee any problems since the land was already allocated for that purpose. Trenton may take a little longer because Ranger wants something completely different there."

I could work with that. A 10-story building that was part offices and part apartments. This would be great experience if I ever wanted to start my own company. I looked over at Lula and then at Tank and asked, "Would it be much of an imposition if the two of you watched the kids in the morning when they go over and visit Stephanie and Ranger? I'd like to take that time and go and buy a few supplies."

Tank grinned and said, "Actually, we were hoping you'd say 'Yes' so we've already gone and bought you a few things. Since this is for RangeMan, we also have a corporate card for you. If you need additional computer equipment or software, please use this credit card." Tank handed me a RangeMan card and pointed to a few bags and boxes hiding behind the chair in the corner.

I walked over and found a brand new dual-monitor large screened laptop. It was pretty much top of the line and must have cost over $5000. There was a large printer that could print architectural plans, a roll of paper, pencils, paper and a drafting table and chair that needed to be assembled. I turned and looked at Tank and said, "Wow, I can definitely make a good start with this stuff. My only question is how to get it all to Trenton."

Tank laughed and said, "Don't worry about that. We'll figure out a way."

I smiled and then asked, "Would it be OK if I discussed some of my ideas with Stephanie? I know Ranger relies on her for her keen eye and I'm sure it will be the same for these buildings."

Tank's expression turned a bit more serious and he said, "Actually, I think that would be a great idea. Stephanie is not one to gladly sit idle. With her leg, she can't work her normal job, so I'm sure she'd appreciate it if you involved her in this project."

I had a thought and asked, "How soon could I get the plans from Ranger?"

Tank laughed and said, "They're on their way here now. You should have them tomorrow morning. If you want to review them in peace, we can keep your kids entertained."

"Thanks guys, I might take you up on that tomorrow. I would like to go talk to Stephanie and find out about Ranger, but after morning visiting hours, I'll let you and Lula take the kids so I can get some work done."

When the plans for the following day were settled, Tank, Lula and I discussed watching a film. After flipping through the options on the hotel television, we decided against it. We watched a documentary about castles in Europe and then I headed to bed. The accommodations here weren't as comfortable as the previous hotel, but we did have 3 adjoining rooms. We were watching TV in Tank's room while the girls shared a room with Lula and I shared with Diego. It was a tight fit, but everyone seemed happy enough. I excused myself and said goodnight and headed in to find Diego passed out sideways on our bed. I straightened him up, brushed my teeth and crawled in beside him.

**_Lula's POV_**

I was thinking about the destroyed RangeMan building and Steph and my apartment. Ella has confirmed that she was able to rescue some of our clothes, but not much else. This is the first time that I was grateful that I didn't have a lot of personal belongings. You know what I mean, picture albums, keepsakes and the like? I've never had much of that. My mother didn't take many photos and there isn't much about my childhood that warranted reminding. I must have sighed or something because Tank moved over and sat beside me on the couch and asked, "What's wrong Lula?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking. I also wonder about the new RangeMan building and all of the possibilities."

Tank grinned and said, "I can guarantee you right now that under no circumstances would Ranger allow a slide or a fireman's pole."

I laughed and said, "Actually, I was trying to think of something a bit more practical. So far I haven't come up with anything exciting, but don't worry, I'll keep my thinking cap on."

Tank smiled and got all serious before saying, "You know what Lula, I don't think we've had the opportunity to be alone together in quite some time."

"I know. I was really hoping that we'd get a chance to spend some time together in Miami, but then all this happened. I'm sad that we missed our chance, but I am glad that I can be here to help Steph and Ranger. And Ron and the kids."

"That's funny. I was hoping the same thing about Miami. I wanted to go for a walk on the beach in my bare feet. The sand there is a lot smoother than what we get at Point Pleasant. Maybe once this is all over, we can go back and you can properly experience Miami."

"I'd like that Tank, but I think we need to survive a few dates first. I know our previous attempt at dating was a bit of a fiasco and I will take the blame there. I was just so surprised that you wanted to be with me, an ex-ho, that I sort of lost the plot."

Tank put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed me closer to him. He smiled down at me and said, "I think I should take some of the blame there too Lula. I was afraid. In fact, I still am, but I'm better able to handle it now I think. I've seen how happy Ranger and Bomber are and I've come to realise that happiness is possible for guys like us."

I frowned and said, "Why didn't you think it was possible for you to be happy?"

Tank sighed and said, "In case you haven't noticed, communication for us is rather limited. We needed to be succinct at communication when we were in the army and then the Rangers. As a result, a lot of us learned to communicate with one or two words or even none at all. Now that we're no longer in the army, some of us have a hard time fitting in, in the real world.

"I was also afraid to let somebody in, emotionally. Attachments can prove disastrous in the army, so dating was kind of like using a bunch of unused muscles. It was very difficult."

I smiled at Tank and said, "Well, now that we know the problems, we can work together to get over them. I am now an ex-bounty hunger's assistant and you were pretty good at expressing yourself just now. I'm sure you'll get better over time."

Tank grinned and said, "Well, I think there will be plenty of time to practise. Things will be really hectic and we'll all be busy until we get RangeMan back to full strength, but we'll find some time to go on dates and get to know each other better."

I smiled and said, "At least we don't have to worry about weekly family dinners with our families. We're both technically orphans, and if some of the stories about dinners with Steph's family are true, I've never been more happy about that."

Tank laughed and said, "I know what you mean. I've actually been to Steph's for dinner a couple of times and it was very uncomfortable to say the least. Steph's Granny is a little loony, but at least she's fun. Steph's mother is such a bore, and it's like her father isn't even present. If you didn't hear his cutlery scrape against the plate, you'd never know he was there."

Tank and I stayed up late and talked. In the end, instead of going in and possibly waking up the girls, I just slept on the Sofa in Tank's room. It pulled out and it was in a separate room than the bed, so it wasn't really like we were sharing a room. Tank did however, give me one hell of a goodnight kiss that had me wishing that there were no kids in the rooms next door.

When I finally crawled into bed that night, I realised something for the first time in years. I was happy. I was genuinely happy. I had a new job that was more of a career. I had a potential boyfriend and I was seeing the world. Well, a corner of it at least. I was also helping friends and meeting new people. I probably even drifted off to sleep with huge smile on my face.

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Let me know what you think. Next chapter will go up in the next few days.


	6. Chapter 6

More moving things along. Don't worry.. I'll get there eventually. Enjoy!

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**_Stephanie's POV_**

I woke up three times during the night. The first time, I was a bit disorientated and as soon as I realised I was in the hospital, I drifted back off a little later. The second time, I woke up a bit more and found that my leg was hurting. I tried to ignore it and managed to fall back asleep. The third time, I was unable to ignore the pain in my leg any longer. I pressed the call button and a nurse arrived a few minutes later to top up my pain meds.

I slept through the rest of the night without any problems and didn't wake up until the doctor came in to check on Ranger the next morning around 7AM. As soon as I saw the doctor I asked, "How's he doing?"

The doctor raised his eyebrow and said, "Well, Mr. Manoso seems to be doing a little better today. His breathing is better and I think we might be able to wean him off the drugs keeping him in a coma starting tomorrow. That is, unless something changes with his condition between then and now."

I thanked Ranger's doctor and he confirmed that my doctor would be in shortly to talk about my leg and what I needed to do to get out of here. I nodded and groaned when I saw the food that was waiting for me on the rolling table. I lifted the lid to the tray and saw some grey gloop in a bowl. I suspected that it might be porridge, but I couldn't be sure. All I knew was that it didn't look editable.

I was pushing the plate around when my doctor, Dr. Riley Hahn walked in the room. She smiled and said, "I'm surprised we don't get more complaints about our food. It truly is atrocious."

I simply nodded at her statement and she continued. "Today, we need to get you up and moving. We have three different options. You can use regular crutches that go under your armpits. Alternatively, you can use crutches that loop around your forearms. Lastly, you can use a walker. The last option isn't very sexy but it is far more stable when you're first starting out."

I thought for about a minute and then said, "I'd like to start with the second option. But keep the walker close by, just in case."

"OK, it's a deal. I will need you to do a loop around this floor twice now and then again later this afternoon. If you can do that tomorrow as well, I'll release you the following morning."

I looked at her and asked, "Will you help me?"

She grinned, winked and said, "No, Bobby will be by soon and he'll help you. To be honest, I'd take Bobby's help any day too."

"How do you know Bobby? He said that he requested you specifically, so I assumed that he knew you."

She smiled and said, "I only met him for the first time when I was called in. He worked with my brother when he was in the army, so that's probably how he knew about me. Now that I've met him, I wish my brother had introduced us years ago."

"Well, you'll be happy to know that Bobby is single. He's a great guy too."

Dr. Hahn was a beautiful Korean woman with warm brown eyes and flawless skin. I saw her blush when I mentioned that Bobby was single and it made me smile. The thought of another Merry Man falling in love made me happy. They are all good guys and they deserve to be as happy as the next man. It will just take spectacular women to accept the dangers and the dedication that their jobs entail.

Dr. Hahn sat down beside me and we started talking. "Riley is a very unique name, especially for a woman. Do you mind if I ask what the story is there?"

"Well, it's not all that interesting actually. My mother is British and my father is Korean. My mother's maiden name was O'Reilly and when she found out she was pregnant, they decided to call the baby Riley. My mother was positive I would be a boy, but when I was born, they decided to give me the name anyway."

"Wow, based on your accent, you've lived in England for a while."

She nodded and said, "I grew up in London. I went to school there and then came here for University. I stuck around when John's Hopkins and then Bethesda hired me."

"Then how did your brother end up in the Army here?"

"Oh he didn't. He was in the British SAS. They did some combined training and missions with the Rangers. That's how he and Bobby met."

I looked up and saw Bobby standing in the doorway. He was eavesdropping on Riley and me, but I didn't want to call him out on it. I decided to wait until Riley noticed him or he made his presence known.

I didn't have long to wait because moments later, Riley stood and said, "Well, as fun as this has been, I need to get back to my rounds."

Just then, Bobby knocked on the door and walked in. He greeted Dr. Hahn and when the shook hands, he lingered and held her hand a little longer than was normal. They had a short discussion about my requirements for the day and then she waved goodbye. She blushed and when she walked out of the room, she looked back and smiled at Bobby.

I laid there with the head of my bed propped up and waited for Bobby to remember he was here to see me. After about two minutes, he shook his head and turned back into the room. He smiled sheepishly at me and then went to read Ranger's chart. He looked up at me and said, "It appears that Ranger might wake up the day after tomorrow. Dr. Hahn also says that you might be able to get out of here that day as well."

I nodded and said, "Normally, I would be chomping at the bit to get out of here, but knowing that Ranger might be stuck here, I don't want him to wake up all alone."

Bobby smiled and said, "I will talk to Dr. Hahn and see if we can let you stay here for a few more days once Ranger is awake."

"Thanks Bobby, what do I have to do first?"

"Well Steph, we're going to get you up and on your feet with some crutches. You can practice a little bit and then we will have a bit of a race down the corridor. When we return, I will help you wrap up your cast and then you can have a shower. We should get a move on so you don't keep your visitors waiting when visiting hour start in 1 and a ½ hours."

My eyes opened wide and I looked at my watch. "How can I get out of bed, walk around the entire floor, shower and get ready all in 1 and a ½ hours?"

"I'm sure you can do it. The floor isn't that big. To begin, let's get you out of this traction contraption."

I sat there and patiently waited for Bobby to unhook all of the cables that were holding my leg in the air. When he lowered it, the change in position sent a sudden jolting pain that started from the tip of my toes to the top of my thigh. I must have cried out in pain because Bobby looked at me and said, "It should stop hurting momentarily. The change in position increased the blood pressure in your leg. If it doesn't stop hurting soon, we'll get you some more pain medication, but if we do that, then you won't get up on this leg today."

I gritted my teeth and waited a few minutes. True to Bobby's word, the pain subsided. I looked up at the concern on Bobby's face and said, "OK, that's better. What's next?"

Bobby reached behind the door and pulled out a pair of crutches. They had a hole for me to put my arms through and a bar for me to hold up my weight. He moved the crutches closer to the bed and then said, "Before we can get you on the crutches, we need to get your leg off the bed. Just like before, the change in position will be painful, but only for a few moments. Let me know when you are ready and I will help you swing your leg over the side of the bed."

I waved Bobby over and he helped me sit up. I didn't need his help to get my left leg off the bed, but Bobby made sure that my left leg was lowered slowly so the cast didn't drop to the floor. Again, the pain caused me to clamp my jaw shut, but it passed after a few more minutes. This time, the pain was much stronger and it took longer, but it did subside.

The next thing was the crutches. I have used crutches before, so I was pretty confident that I could stand up and move in that all-so-awkward way. I pulled the crutches towards me and got myself set up. I leaned forward on the bed and put all of my weight on my good leg. I then rested against the crutches and tried to move.

The swinging movement of my casted leg was extremely painful. I looked down at my leg and thought that I needed to take smaller steps to minimise the swaying of my leg. The weight of the cast was causing the leg to swing more than I wanted, and at this point in time, I had no control over that.

I tried smaller steps and even though it took a lot longer, I was better able to manage the pain in my leg. Bobby was encouraging and before I knew it, I was walking down the hallway with Bobby at my side. Normally, I would want to talk to Bobby as a way to distract me from an unpleasant task. This time however, I felt it was far more important for me to concentrate so I didn't end up on my ass. Falling would be extremely painful and if I didn't pay attention to my every move, I was sure to slip or trip or something.

We returned back to the room about 40 minutes later. My leg was throbbing from being upright, but it wasn't really painful. It was just uncomfortable. The cast itself was one of those old fashioned plaster casts. Dr. Hahn said that I needed the plaster cast because of the traction doo-hickey thing that I was connected to. She said that once I was up and moving, they would replace the cast with a more durable and lightweight cast. I was hoping that would be soon because moving around with this dead weight was hard.

I showered and felt the best I had since waking up in the hospital. I made it over to the bed and even managed to climb aboard without help from Bobby. He was really impressed and promised to talk to the doctor about getting my cast changed. He took his chance a little while later when Tank, Lula, Ron and the kids arrived for morning visiting hours.

The kids were very excited because they were going to the zoo that afternoon. Ron explained that he decided to take the RangeMan job and he wanted to get started straight away. Tank and Lula figured that a day away from the hospital would be good for the kids and it would give Ron time to get set up for his new job.

They didn't forget about me because Tank provided me with a brand new laptop, a bunch of DVDs, some earphones and a new cell phone that had WiFi hotspot capabilities. This meant that I could use the internet on the laptop as well as the phone. I was really pleased with their gifts, but that wasn't all.

Julie pulled out another bag and handed it to me. Inside were a bunch of fashion magazines, puzzle books, a pack of pencils and last but not least, my cosmetics bag from the plane. It was a little worse for wear, but it still contained all of my beauty essentials, including my hairbrush, of which I was in serious need.

Julie noticed my longing look at my hairbrush and said, "Would you mind if I brushed your hair Steph? I'm sure your bruised arms would get sore pretty quickly if you tried yourself."

I nodded and climbed off the bed and went to sit in a chair. This allowed Julie to stand behind me and attempt to brush my hair. I say 'attempt' because after about 5 minutes, Julie walked around in front of me and said, "I don't know how you deal with that every day. I can't seem to get the brush through even one little section."

I laughed at Julie's reaction to my hair. I felt bad that it was so tangled after the explosion and then two days of lying in a hospital bed so I told her that she was off the hook and took the brush from her and did the best I could. Julie was right about my arms though. After only 2 minutes, they were burning and I had to take a rest.

While Julie was struggling with my hair, Lula disappeared from the room. When she came back to see me struggling, she said, "Give that here White Girl. I just went down to the gift shop and managed to find something that will probably help. I bought some leave-in-conditioner detangler spray."

I sat there as Lula shook the small bottle and then sprayed it around my head. She then picked up the brush and successfully managed to brush my hair. I picked up the little bottle and took note of its name and the brand. I was definitely going to have to get more of this stuff. When she was finished, Lula asked, "Do you want me to do anything with your hair?"

I knew that if I let it air dry, my hair would be a frizzy mess, but I didn't have a blow dryer and I doubted that the hospital had any to lend. I thought for a moment and shrugged. "I don't want to let it air dry but I also have to sleep on it, so a pony tail isn't really ideal."

Lula nodded and said, I'll put it in French braids. I'll put one on each side so you can sleep flat on your back without your hair hurting. It should stay in overnight without any problems."

I agreed to this solution and sat patiently as Lula tugged and tamed my hair. In less than 10 minutes, Lula said, "There, all done."

I felt my head and was quite impressed with the speed and apparent neatness of the braids. I thanked Lula and we returned to talking about more pleasant things. Emma told us that the zoo had pandas and they might get to see a baby panda if they were lucky. She also exclaimed her delight at getting to see an elephant close up.

Diego was a little less excited about the larger animals. He was more interested in the reptiles and other creepy crawlies. I thought that was pretty typical for a little boy, but Lula also seemed interested in seeing the reptiles.

"Don't get me wrong," Lula said, "I don't like these sorts of things in the wild. I mean, if I ever run into a Tarantula or a snake in real life, I'll run as fast as my legs will carry me in the other direction. But in the zoo, they're all behind glass so you can look without fear that they will crawl or slither on you. I think that's pretty fascinating."

I could see Tank grimace at the thought so he said, "While these two are looking at creepy-crawlies, Julie, Emma and I will be visiting the pandas, lions, tigers, cheetahs, snow leopards and many other majestic animals."

Lula laughed and said, "We'll get around to them too, we just want to visit things like the alligators, tree frogs and snakes first."

They all had a great time teasing each other about their animal favourites. I was actually a little jealous that I'd be stuck here. I loved zoos. If I went to a new city and there was a zoo, I always went. At some point during our zoo discussion, Bobby returned. He joined in on the conversation and when his watch beeped, he looked down and announced that visiting hours for this morning would have to be cut short. I was getting a new cast put on my leg.

There was a round of quick hugs and then I was left alone with Bobby and Ron. Ron stayed behind to talk to me and Bobby said that we had about 10 minutes until the orderlies would be here to move me. Ron didn't have a lot of time, so he gave me the highlights. "Ranger wants to expand the RangeMan facilities in Trenton, but because some demolition needs to take place, we're going to get Boston started first. I was hoping that you might work with me to come up with some great ideas on the use of space."

I was overwhelmed by his request and said, "I'm not sure what I can provide Ron, but I'd be happy to look over anything you have. I'm no expert when it comes to buildings, but I do have a knack of knowing if something doesn't belong or feel right."

Ron grinned and said, "Great. I'll send you a copy of the documents I received this morning from Trenton. Ranger had a vision for a new Boston building, but since it wasn't really needed at the time, he just let them sit in a drawer. The old building was downtown and it was just offices. This new building will also have several apartments as well as more office space. It will be in a different area of town and it will allow the Boston office double its staff if needed."

I agreed to look over what Ron sent me and put any ideas into an email. Ron handed me a piece of paper that had all of his new RangeMan email addresses and Skype details. I tucked the paper into the pocked of my laptop bag and waved goodbye to Ron.

Seconds later, two men came into the room with a wheel chair and took me to a different floor where my plaster cast was cut off and it was replaced with a new fibreglass cast. They even gave me a choice of colour. I could choose between blue, purple, pink, red or black. I didn't even hesitate for a second when I selected black.

After returning to my room and eating the food they described as lunch, I decided to take a stroll around my floor. Bobby probably would have preferred me to wait for him, but I was bored and I wanted to test out my new cast. I was more than ½ ways around the floor when I ran into Dr. Hahn. She complimented me on my quick technique and walked me back to my room. She looked around the room and I was sure she was hoping Bobby would be there. I smiled at her and said, "Bobby will be back soon. He wants to be here when they turn off Ranger's medication."

Dr. Hahn, or Riley as she now insists to be called, decided to sit down and discuss my leg. "Does your leg hurt more or less than it did after you took your walk this morning."

I thought about it and said, "It's actually hurting more now, but that's because I skipped my lunchtime pain meds injection. I find that the painkillers dull my mind and I don't' like that. Perhaps there is something that can let me stay alert as well as dull the pain."

Riley nodded and said that she'd ask the nurse to bring me some extra-strength ibuprofen. I could keep taking that during the day unless the pain got to be too much. At night however, I'd still be given the usual pain killers because I didn't need to be quite so alert when I slept.

Riley and I talked for a while. She asked me a few questions about Bobby and I asked her a few questions about her love life. It turns out that Riley was divorced. Her ex-husband cheated on her in much the same way as the Dick did to me. Riley's husband however, ended up knocking up his little piece on the side and leaving Riley. That was 5 years ago and she hadn't really dated much since. I thought that she and Bobby might hit it off, but I could tell she was reluctant, probably because she lives in Baltimore and Bobby lives in Trenton.

**_Bobby's POV_**

Every time I walk into this hospital, I hope that I'll see Riley. I know she doesn't actually work here, but she has agreed to do the after patient care for Stephanie's leg. On a normal week, she splits her time between Bethesda and John's Hopkins. This week however, she's adding Providence Hospital to her roster. She must be running around like crazy driving between all three hospitals.

I wanted to be there when Ranger's doctor reduced or stopped his medication. I had a few questions for him and arrived about 20 minutes early. When I walked towards the door of Steph and Ranger's room, I could hear voices. I listened for a moment and realised that Steph was talking to Riley. I immediately thought that I should get in there and spend whatever time I could with her, but then I heard what they were talking about. Riley was telling Stephanie about her ex-husband and I thought that if I came in now, Riley would clamp up. Instead, I decided to go and look for Ranger's doctor.

I found Dr. Travis and asked the questions I wanted to ask. No, Ranger could not be transported, at least for another week or two. I also wanted to know if the doctor would wean Ranger off of the medication or just cut it off. Dr. Travis explained that he'd slowly wean Ranger by lowering the dosage slowly over the next 24 hours. He expects that Ranger might start to wake up in around 48 hours.

I approved of this timeline and walked with Dr. Travis to Ranger's room. When we arrived, the doctor explained what he was doing to Stephanie. She looked a bit confused to I explained to her that it would be much easier on Ranger to slowly lower the dosage of the drugs keeping him in a coma. It would mean that he might not regain consciousness for a few days, but the rest and lack of movement will help him heal much quicker.

Stephanie seemed happy with my explanation and then returned to her conversation with Riley as Dr. Travis went about his business of checking on Ranger's vitals and adjusting the machine that administered his drugs. I didn't want to interrupt the ladies but I didn't want to stand around looking like a fool either. Stephanie must have sensed my discomfort and involved me in the conversation.

"Hey Bobby. Why don't you take a seat and relax a bit?"

I walked over and took a seat in the chair beside Stephanie's bed. Riley was sitting on the end of her bed. I looked at both women and for a moment, we sat there in awkward silence. Finally, to relieve the tension I spoke. "How are you feeling Steph? Do you think you'll be up for a race this afternoon?"

Steph grimaced a little and said, "Well, I already did my afternoon rounds before you got here."

"You went out without me? Wow, I'm hurt. How else am I supposed to feel macho?"

We all laughed at that and then Stephanie said, "Why don't you feel macho by asking Riley to dinner."

Both Riley and my eyes went wide and we both blushed. Riley wasn't able to look me in the eye, so I glared at Steph and said, "Oh go on Steph, why don't you put me on the spot."

Stephanie laughed at me and Riley even smiled. She looked at me and smiled tentatively before saying, "Don't worry Bobby, I won't be offended if you don't want to go to dinner."

I spluttered and then managed to say, "I never said I didn't want to go. I'd be happy to take you to dinner. We could get to know each other and talk about our patient a little more."

I watched and laughed as Riley turned and grinned at Stephanie. It took a moment for Steph to realise what I meant. She got a hurt look on her face and said, "Whoa, you can't discuss me. Doesn't that go against doctor-patient confidentiality or something?"

I laughed and said, "Not when I hold your medical power of attorney and Riley is your doctor. But don't worry Steph, I was just teasing you. I'm sure Riley and I can find plenty of things to discuss."

I turned and looked at Riley and said, "What about Saturday? That gives you 4 days to arrange for cover if you're on call."

Riley thought for a moment and said, "I think I might be off that night, so it would work perfectly."

Riley stood and I followed her out the door to make arrangements for our date. When I returned to Steph's room, she was grinning like a fool and asking about the plans we made. I decided to keep things a secret and just said that we were going out for dinner. I hugged Steph and left her alone. The rest of the gang would be along shortly for their afternoon visit.

* * *

More to come.


	7. Chapter 7

The next chapter is up...

* * *

**_Stephanie's POV_**

The next three days passed in much the same way. The doctor would come in and check on Ranger, lowering his medication dosages. Then I'd sit and talk to Ranger for about 30 minutes before I would take a walk around the floor and have a shower.

After a shower, I'd have a few visitors. Depending on what they were all doing, different combinations of Ran, Tank, Lula and the kids would show up. Julie would come every day. There were even times when she came with Tank or Bobby and then spend the day with just me and a sleeping Ranger.

After the 3rd day, the doctor told us that he had turned off all of the medication keeping Ranger sedated. He expected Ranger to wake up at any time. Bobby didn't want to overwhelm him so only Julie and I were allowed to be in the room with Ranger. Julie told Ranger stories about her adventures with Tank and Lula and I talked about the buildings and what Ron was working on. We even discussed whether or not she should still call him '_Ranger_.' She didn't think it was really appropriate anymore, especially since he would be playing a bigger role in her life. I made a few suggestions and she promised to think about them over the next little while.

Julie was disappointed when Ranger didn't wake up straight away, but I was worried. Maybe Ranger's injuries were worse than the doctor thought. I didn't want to scare Julie so I waited until she went back to the hotel that night before I asked Bobby. "Why hasn't he woken up yet Bobby? Does this mean he's in worse shape than they thought?"

Bobby came and sat beside me and said, "It could be any number of reasons, but most likely, the drugs he was on have not yet been fully metabolised and are keeping him under. He just needs time. We just have to be patient. His body will wake up when it's ready."

I smiled and thanked Bobby and bid him a good night. He left and I was left alone with Ranger. I wasn't really feeling tired, so instead of climbing up onto my bed, I used my crutches and walked around to the other side of Ranger's bed and sat in a chair. The chair was close enough that I could hold Ranger's hand and feel connected to the man.

I started telling him about all of the things that had happened since he was injured. I told him that the Miami office is now up and running at full capacity. They moved to their new office early, but only cosmetic work remained, and that has been accelerated and completed.

The Atlanta office is still doing monitoring services remotely for Boston, but a new temporary location has been found and they are scheduled to switch monitoring duty back to Boston by the end of the week.

The Trenton building was deemed stable enough for salvage, but not for occupation. As a result, a group of RangeMan, friends, family, TPD Officers and several other volunteers descended upon the building and carted out anything and everything that was still in one piece and usable.

Some of the people that showed up to help really surprised me, so I told Ranger all about it. "Grandma Mazur nagged both my parents during dinner the night before the salvage operation began. All three of them turned up the next day and from what Hal says, they even had a good time."

I then went on to tell him where everyone who had been displaced by the bombing was living. "Ella and Luis have moved into one of the safe houses after it was confirmed to be bomb free. The rest of the men are distributed amongst other RangeMan personnel, with the exception of Hal. He insists on sleeping on the sofa in his office. Even though Lester is back and in charge, Hal has really taken his leadership role seriously. He insists that he will find an apartment and move when things are a bit more normal."

I squeezed his hand and took a quick bathroom break. When I returned, I said, "You know, you really are going to owe Morelli one. He came through in more than one way for you. He arranged for the new office building downtown, and according to Lester, it is way better than he expected. Morelli was also pretty involved with the whole salvage operation. He even sent out word through his contacts for volunteers. A huge group of people turned up and the building was cleared out in one day. Builders have already gone in and have started to recover the more built-in components.

"Ella told them that any salvageable parts like granite work top surfaces, cabinets or other built-in furniture should be carefully removed. She doubts that we'll want to re-use it, but she does think it could be useful to somebody. She wants to donate it to charity or something. I think that's a good idea, don't you?"

I looked over at Ranger expectantly. I hoped that he would say something in reply but I was disappointed. He made no move and he didn't look like he was paying any attention to a word I said. Despite that, I kept on talking. I told him about Fiona going to Trenton. I told him about Riley and Bobby, and finally, I told him about me and how I've been coping.

I must have fallen asleep talking because the next thing I knew, the nurse was shaking my shoulder and saying my name. I looked up at her and smiled sheepishly. She helped me get to my feet, but before she let me crawl into my bed, she wheeled it so that it was directly beside Ranger's bed.

I looked up at her and said, "What if I roll over in the middle of the night and hurt him?"

She smiled and said, "Mr. Manoso's life threatening injuries should be healed enough that even he can get up and move around once he's awake. I'm sure if you roll over onto him, he won't even feel the pain. In fact, your closeness may help soothe him and bring him out of his coma sooner. Besides, the weight of that cast on your left leg will make it unlikely that you will move too much in your sleep."

I looked down at Ranger and then back at the nurse and asked, "Is he still in a coma? That's bad, isn't it?"

The nurse helped me into my bed and said, "It's not bad unless he doesn't wake up. It is quite common for a person who was in an induced coma to take a few days to wake up. The doctor has done things a little more slowly with Mr. Manoso by weaning him off the drugs over a period of days. This was because he didn't want to shock Mr. Manoso's body or use other drugs to try and pull him out of his coma. Other doctors sometimes give drugs to wake a patient up, but that can be hard on a person. Since Mr. Manoso's injuries were so bad, we want him to wake up more naturally. This will take longer, but it is much safer."

I think Bobby tried to explain that to me before, but I never really understood. Now that the nurse has explained things to me, I feel less worried. I thanked the nurse and managed to fall asleep holding Ranger's hand to my chest within seconds of closing my eyes.

Several hours later, something forced me awake. I looked around my room and could tell that it was still early because the sun wasn't even up yet. I didn't see anything that would draw me out of sleep so I closed my eyes again and tried to get back to sleep. Just as I was drifting off again, I was jolted awake again.

This time, I was getting a bit annoyed. The pain in my leg was getting to me. I was tired and now I was grumpy. I reached for the bell to call the nurse and noticed that there was a reason why my leg was sore. Ranger had moved in his sleep. He had curled up beside me and now his leg was draped over mine.

I reached over and patted Ranger and said, "Move over Ranger, you're hurting me." I don't know why I said this because I knew he was asleep. That's why I was so shocked when Ranger did what I asked. I was so relieved on both counts. My leg was less painful and Ranger obeying my request meant that he was waking.

I turned as best as I could to see his face and saw that his eyes were twitching. He was waking up and I wanted to be the first person that he saw. A thought went through my head at that moment. What did I look like? My hair must be a nightmare. I looked over at the bathroom and contemplated going in and making myself more presentable, but I didn't get a chance.

"Babe, I don't care what you hair and makeup look like. I just want to see your beautiful eyes."

I whipped my head around and saw the greatest sight of my life. Ranger was smiling at me and he looked good. "Babe, say something."

I struggled to control my emotions to find my voice. It took me a few moments before I could speak. I looked at Ranger and said, "You don't know how happy I am that you're awake. I've been talking to you non-stop for 5 days now, so I'm sure you woke up just so you didn't have to listen to me talk anymore."

Ranger reached out and touched my face and then said, "I'd gladly listen to you talk all day Babe. I woke up because I have so much to do. It's going to months to get RangeMan up and running again."

I smiled at Ranger and said, "RangeMan is in good hands Ranger. Boston is nearly up and running in an alternate office. Trenton is fine, Atlanta is good and Miami just moved to its new office a month early. Despite all of her attempts, Gina has not destroyed you in the way she wanted."

Just then, the nurse walked into the room. I guess she was just doing her early morning rounds, but as soon as she saw that Ranger was awake, she went to fetch the doctor. The nurse, the doctor and Bobby came in a few minutes later and the doctor poked and prodded Ranger. He looked at the wounds on Ranger's back and had him in a sitting position and talking by the time our breakfast was brought in.

"Now, Mr. Manoso, we currently have an IV giving you fluids and some nutrients. If you can manage to eat your breakfast, I will come back before visiting hours and have your IVs removed. That way you can move around, maybe even get out of bed. Mr. Brown here can help." Bobby moved forward and nodded at Ranger, show nodded back. The doctor was content with this non-verbal interchange so he left us to our breakfast.

**_Ranger's POV_**

I looked down at the tray in front of my and groaned. I didn't look at food the same way as other people. I ate because I needed the fuel, not because I enjoyed it. That is, unless I'm eating with my Babe. But then again, the enjoyment there is watching her eat and not so much my own enjoyment of the food.

I forced myself to eat the food because I wanted out of this hospital as soon as possible. I looked over at Steph and she was doing the same. Based on her grimace, her breakfast was no more appealing. I struggled with each bite of the gloopy oatmeal. A few times, I had to swallow very hard to suppress my gag reflex. I looked over at my Babe and said, "For the first time in my life, I am actually wishing that I could have one of those fat and sugar filled breakfasts that Ella insisted on making for you. This stuff is inedible."

My Babe smiled and said, "I'll send Lula a text and ask her to bring something edible. I'm sure a bit of fat and sugar will actually do you some good on your road to recovery."

I doubted that, but I wasn't going to argue with her. I smiled my thanks and watched as she pulled out her phone and sent a text message. I pushed my tray table away and tried to swing my legs over the side of the bed. Bobby moved to my side and just stood there until I asked for help. I knew he would make me ask before he would help, unless I fell on my ass. I looked up at him and said, "I'm going to try and stand on my own. If I'm a bit wobbly, I'll need your help to make sure I don't fall on my ass."

Bobby nodded, saying "Sure, no problem. Before we go anywhere, let's get you something to wear other than a backless gown. Just sit tight and I'll be right back."

I sat on the edge of my bed and looked over at Steph. She was standing by the door with her crutches and was looking at me. She smiled and said, "I'm going to go for my walk now. I'll just wait for Bobby to return and then I'll leave you on your own. The first time around can be pretty painful so I don't want you to have to worry about me while you need to be concentrating on yourself. Besides, I want to get back and have a shower before you return."

My Babe smiled and headed out when Bobby returned a few minutes later with a pair of scrubs. He helped me get the pants on and then carefully removed my IV so I could put on a shirt. He didn't remove the catheter just in case I needed it later for fluids and pain meds. That actually got me to thinking about my current status and pain. I was stiff but I wasn't really sore at this time. I knew that the effort of getting up and moving around would be painful, but it was something that I needed to do in order to get out of here.

Once on my feet, I stood there for a few minutes before attempting to take a step. My first few steps were tentative and awkward, but I didn't fall over or require Bobby's help. We moved out into the hallway and I managed to do a loop around the floor before I started to feel any pain. I must have verbally indicated that I was in pain because Bobby came to my side and said, "Lean on me if you need to Ranger."

I smiled at him and said, "I think I'll take you up on your offer my friend." I put my arm on his shoulder and let him help me walk back to the room I shared with my Babe. When I got inside, I could hear Stephanie moving around in the bathroom. I let Bobby help me climb back into bed and asked, "I think I need something to help with the pain. I would prefer something that won't make me drowsy. I want to visit with Julie when she comes and I don't want to be in pain but I don't want to be asleep either.

Bobby nodded and said, "I'll go talk to the doctor and get you something for the pain."

I smiled and waited for Bobby to return with some drugs and for my Babe to come out of the bathroom. While I was waiting, a nurse came in with a small tub of water. She set the tub on the table and said, "I'm here to give you a bath Mr. Manoso. Because of your stitches, it's not possible for you to have a shower."

I was just about to object to a stranger giving me a sponge bath when Stephanie came out of the bathroom and asked, "Can I do that?"

The nurse turned and looked at Stephanie and said, "Sure dear, just as long as you avoid the areas with stitches. Once Mr. Manoso is cleaned up, come and let me know and I'll come back to change his dressings. The doctor will be by just before visiting hours as well."

I smiled at Stephanie once the nurse had left and said, "Thanks Babe, getting a bath from a stranger would have been quite awkward."

I watched as Stephanie closed the door and hobbled over to the side of my bed. She dipped a wash cloth into the warm soapy water and wring out the excess. She spent the next 15 minutes thoroughly washing my body. It was one of the most erotic things I have ever experienced, and based on my body's reaction, my Babe could tell. Every time she touched me, she blushed.

When I was deemed clean enough, Stephanie helped me put on a clean pair of pants and then went to fetch the nurse. Bobby came in and then helped the nurse change my bandages. Once my bandages were changed, Bobby handed me a brand new t-shirt and helped me put it on.

We had about 20 minutes before visiting hours were due to start so I asked Bobby to excuse us and I spent those 20 minutes just holding my Babe and talking about all the things I'd like to see an do with her. We talked about the new RangeMan buildings and where I was going to live when we returned to Trenton. "Come on Ranger, you don't want to live in my apartment. It's small, ugly, cramped and unsecure."

"I want to be where you are Babe. Short of finding a new place together, it's our best option."

Stephanie smiled and said, "You mean you want us to get our own place?"

I nodded and then said, "I've been thinking about this for a while. I lived at RangeMan because it was convenient, but it's not really the ideal environment to do all those silly things I once said I didn't do."

I watched the confusion on my Babe's face turn to excitement. I thought it was because she understood what I was saying, but it was because we were no longer alone. She squealed when Lula handed her a bag and Julie came running. As soon as she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around me and said, "I'm so glad to see that you're finally awake Papa."

I took hold of her shoulders and looked into her smiling face. I was glad to see my little girl, but I was surprised by what she had called me. I raised an eyebrow and I saw Julie look up at Stephanie. She then turned back to me and said, "When you were sleeping, I explained to Stephanie that I didn't want to keep calling you Ranger. We discussed a few options and I decided on Papa. Ron can still be Dad, but you'll be Papa. Is that OK?"

"Of course it's OK Julie. What were some of the other choices?"

Julie laughed and started naming various things she thought about calling me. I'm glad she chose Papa because some of the other options weren't quite so appealing. Julie grinned at me and said, "In the end, it was a tossup between Papi and Papa. Emma said that Papi sound like the name of a puppy, so I didn't use that."

I looked up at Emma, who was smiling shyly and said, "I'm glad you didn't encourage Julie to call me Papi. She's far too grown up for that."

Emma looked at Ranger with a very serious face and said, "But I'm not too old. Can I call you Papi?"

Every person in the room except Emily turned to look at Ron. I caught Ron's eye and raised my eyebrow. Ron simply nodded and smiled at his little girl and said, "I think Papi is much better than Ranger. Don't you think so Emma?"

She smiled and said, "Yes Daddy, Papi is better than Ranger. He can be my Mommy substitute."

I wasn't sure what to make of this development. I knew Ron was worried about how his kids would cope with Rachel gone, and it was clear that he was struggling with his daughter's most recent comments. I caught Julie's eye and she winked at me, causing me to forget about most of my problems. I wanted to focus on getting better and making the most of the time I'd get to spend with my daughter and my Babe.

Diego decided that he wanted in on this debate as well. He left Lula's side and walked right up to my bed. He looked me in the eye and said, "I don't want to call you Papi, Papa or Ranger. Do you have another name I could use?"

"Well Diego, Ranger is just a nickname. My real name is Carlos, but only close friends and family use that name. You could use that if you'd like."

Diego nodded and said, "I'm family, so I suppose I will call you Carlos."

Emma jumped up and down beside him and said, "Me too, I will call you Papi Carlos."

I laughed out loud at all of the attention I was getting from these wonderful children. I was really looking forward to seeing them more often. That reminded me. I turned, looked at Ron and said, "Stephanie tells me the good news. You've decided to come and work for RangeMan and design us some new buildings."

Ron nodded and said, "The addition of the 2nd building is actually what convinced me. If I ever decide to start my own business, two buildings under my belt will be much better than one. Besides, it is clear that the kids will love spending time with you and your extended family."

Ron looked around the room at everyone and asked, "How long do you think you'll be stuck in the hospital?"

I wasn't sure so I looked to Bobby. Bobby said, "The doctor says he wants you here for at least three more days. That means that if everything goes well, you can get out of here on Sunday afternoon."

Three more days wasn't the best news, but then again it could be worse. I had just woken from a coma so in reality, three days was a pretty good. I looked over at Stephanie who started to speak. "Dr. Hahn has extended my stay, but now that you're awake, I'll likely be discharged today. My doctor will be here around 4, so I'll know for sure then. Bobby, if you could be here, that would be a great help."

Bobby smiled and said, "You can count on it Bomber. I'll be here with bells on."

I looked at Bobby, who refused to make eye contact with me and grinned. I remembered what Stephanie said about Bobby's feelings for this particular doctor, but I refused to call him on it. In fact, I even noticed the connection between Tank and Lula. I looked over at them and watched as Diego wedged himself between Tank and Lula. Tank glared down at the boy who in turn, looked up and grinned at Tank as Lula scooted away from Tank to make room for Diego. I actually laughed out loud at the sight.

Nobody could figure out what caused me to laugh except Tank. He grimaced and decided to walk over to me. "It's good to see you old friend. We were worried about you for a while there."

"Thank Tank. I was hoping to talk to you, Bobby and Ron for a moment." I looked around the room and said, "Hey kids, why don't you and Lula see if you can race Stephanie around the floor? You'll have to walk carefully and keep an eye out for other people. This is a hospital after all."

The kids all jumped up and I looked pleadingly at Stephanie. She must have understood my need to talk to the men alone. Either that or she overheard my request to Tank. Either way, she, Lula and the kids went out into the hall leaving the men alone. I looked at all of them and said, "Gentleman, I think it's time that we got back to the business of getting RangeMan back to strength. Tank, I want you to head back to Trenton tomorrow. I also want you to take Ron and the kids with you.

"Ella and Luis are already at the safe house and I'm sure they have everything ready for their arrival. Ron, you and the kids will live in the house and Ella and Luis will live in the guest house on the same property. Ella will take care of you. She will cook, clean, babysit, whatever you need. She will love to have somebody to take care of. Ever since her apartment and RangeMan was destroyed, I'm sure she's bored."

Next, I turned back to Tank and said, "I need either you or Lester to go up to Boston and take command. Dan is still in hospital and even though I'm sure his temporary replacement can handle the job, I'd rather have one of my core team there to do the administrative part of the job."

"As for you Bobby, I'm going to need you with me. As soon as I'm discharged, I want to head back to Trenton but I'm also going to need your help to make sure I get back into shape as soon as possible without overdoing it or getting hurt in the process."

All three men nodded but Ron was the first to speak. "I actually already have something to show you for the Boston building if you'd like to look at it later this afternoon. Stephanie has made a few suggestions and I was planning on adding them to the plans after we leave here this morning."

"Wow Ron, that was fast. According to Steph, you only started three days ago."

Ron nodded and said, "I figured the sooner the better. Tank and Lula have been taking really good care of the kids so that has provided me with a lot of time to dedicate to my work. So far, the plans are only in a rough format, but there's enough there for you to get an idea of where I'm going and what I've come up with."

I looked at Bobby and Tank. Both men were staring at Ron with their mouths open. They remembered the hassle we went through to get an architect to come up with acceptable blueprints for our original building. It took him months to come up with a first draft, most of which we rejected. I looked at Ron and said, "Bring your laptop. If Steph is discharged, they'll remove her bed and I'll ask for them to set up a desk. We can sit together and go through everything. If any changes are required, you can do that back in Trenton."

"That sounds good Ranger. I do have one request however."

"Sure, what can I do?"

"Well, before you send us back to Trenton, I'd like to talk with you and Julie. I have a feeling that she might want to stay here until you return to Trenton. Since Bobby and Stephanie are both going to stay as well, I'm not worried about Julie's safety. I'm worried about how she'll feel if she is forced to leave with the rest of us."

I could see where Ron was coming from and said, "If you are OK with her staying then we can let her decide if she stays or goes back to Trenton."

It was good that this ended our discussion because less than a minute later, Stephanie practically ran in the door on her crutches. She was giggling and sweating, but she won. The kids and Lula joined her moments later and they all collapsed onto the little sofa inside the door. Lula had both Diego and Emma on her lap and Julie was sitting on Steph's good leg. They all looked happy. Their happiness made me happy and I sat in silence, watching my Babe smile, laugh and joke around with our family. Yup, that's right. I thought of this gang of misfits as my family, especially my Babe. I just had to figure out the best way to tell her how I felt. Maybe date number 2 was in order sooner rather than later.

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I'll post another chapter soon. Let me know what you thought of this one.


	8. Chapter 8

For the record, the characters originated from JE.

Here's the next chapter in this story. I hope you enjoy.

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**_Stephanie's POV_**

When morning visiting hours were over, Ranger and Ron asked to talk to Julie and I while everyone else waited out in the hall. Ron explained that he would be going to Trenton tomorrow and that Tank, Lula, Diego and Emma were going to join them. He then gave Julie the choice of accompanying them to Trenton or staying here with Bobby, me and Ranger.

Julie looked at Ron in surprise and said, "Why are you giving me the choice?"

Ron smiled and said, "You are a smart little girl and we feel that you are more than capable of making these sorts of decisions on your own. I know you love Ranger and I know how worried about him you were. I just want to make sure that you know that you have a say in where you spend your time."

Julie hugged Ron and said, "Thanks Dad. I really appreciate that. Mom never really wanted me to spend time with Papa, so it means a lot to me that you let me spend time with him. I would love to stay with him and Stephanie. It sounds like it will only be for a few more days anyway."

"There," Ron said, "That settles it. You will stay here with Stephanie, Bobby and Ranger. The rest of us will fly back to Trenton tomorrow. You can join us when Ranger is allowed to come home. But for now, I think Tank and Lula have something planned for you kids this afternoon. You can come back and see Ranger later."

Julie hugged Ranger and I and left the room with Ron. Just as he was leaving, Ranger spoke up. "Ron, thanks for that. Under the circumstances, I think it would be best if you started to call me Carlos. Ranger is for work, but you're family."

Ron smiled at Ranger and said, "Sure thing Carlos. I'll be back soon with the plans and drawings."

After Ron left, Ranger looked at me and asked, "Have you seen the plans that Ron has come up with so far Babe?"

I nodded and said, "I have. He was never in the RangeMan building in Trenton, so it really surprised me when I saw that he really understood some of the notes you made on what you wanted. You'll really be impressed when he shows you what he's come up with. I know I was.

Bobby came in a little while later and said that Dr. Hahn was here earlier than expected. I wasn't expecting her until around 4, but it was just after 1PM now. I looked over at Ranger and took a seat on the chair beside him to wait for Riley.

If someone had told me that one day I would prefer to stay in the hospital rather than be discharged, I would have told them that they were crazy. Annoyingly, that's exactly what happened today. Dr. Hahn said that there was no medical reason for me to stay in the hospital any longer. Now that Ranger was awake, there was no reason for him to need me either.

I looked at Riley and said, "Am I going to be restricted to visiting hours?"

Riley smiled and said, "I will make arrangements so you can stay from 9AM through to 10PM. That's as good as I can manage and what's best for your recovery. You still need your rest and you will not get it here, sleeping upright in an uncomfortable chair."

I didn't like the answer, but she was right. I wouldn't get much rest sleeping in a chair. Ranger took my hand and said, "It will be OK Babe. I will be sleeping at night so there's no point in you being uncomfortable while I am asleep."

"I know Ranger, but I don't want to leave you alone. What if something happens?"

Ranger laughed and said, "I'm in the hospital Babe. There are dozens of highly trained doctors and nurses here. If something happens, they will be able to take care of me. Bobby will let you know if anything happens as well."

I sighed and said, "Fine, but expect to see a lot of me during the day."

"I'll look forward to it Babe." Ranger grinned at me and I started to laugh. He was going to be fine and it would only be a few days until we could go home. I decided to focus on that fact rather than being forced to spend time apart from the man I loved.

**Ranger's POV**

Dr. Hahn and Bobby disappeared to go and get Steph's discharge paperwork sorted. Since her bed was still in the room, we took what would be our last chance in the next little while to be together. Steph crawled up onto her bed and we lay in each other's arms as best as we could. We managed pretty well considering Babe's cast, my stitches and the narrowness of our beds.

At least an hour passed and I was positive that my Babe had fallen asleep. I could understand why, it's been a long few days for her. She was worried about me, but she was forced to keep everything together for the sake of Julie and the rest of the kids. She is an amazing woman. She treats those kids with such respect, even though their mother turned her life upside down.

I thought for a long time about the circumstances that brought us to this point and I realised that I was actually both angry and grateful for Rachel's role in this whole fiasco. Rachel had always refused my requests to spend more time with Julie. I was restricted to birthday and Christmas gifts and one visit in person per year. Rachel always made sure that the visit was as short as possible and she was always openly hostile towards me in front of her family.

That reason and that reason alone made me wonder how a woman like that could raise three such wonderful children. All three of them were well behaved, polite, intelligent and strong. Most kids in their current situation would act out and misbehave. Instead, those three kids accepted that their mother was going to be gone and let the people around them take care of them.

I remembered what little Emma called me. Papi Carlos. It made me smile because Emma always seemed afraid of me when Rachel was around. Ron is a good man and I'm sure that's why the kids turned out the way they did. He influenced Rachel and that resulted in three pretty great kids. If only they could teach that to Steph's sister and her husband. Maybe their kids would be a little less annoying.

Steph chuckled and said, "Whatever you're thinking about must be pretty good. I've watched you smirk, smile, giggle and even grin. What's going on Ranger?"

I turned and met my Babe's blue eyes and said, "Actually, I was thinking about how great Ron's kids are. I am also glad that Julie has decided to stop calling me Ranger, and little Emma was so adorable when she called me 'Papi Carlos.' She even rolled the 'r' when she said it.

My Babe laughed and said, "I'm glad you like it Ranger. Julie was pretty sure she wanted to stop using your nickname. To quote her, "You are her father, not an action figure."

I laughed at that. I looked at my Babe and said, "Would you consider calling me Carlos?"

She looked a bit surprised and said, "If that's what you want."

"It is. As you said, Ranger is a nickname that I use for work. Other than Julie, you are the most important person in my life. I want you to know me, the real me. Ranger is just a name, it's not who I am inside."

My Babe smiled at me and said, "I will call you Carlos in private, but since we still work together, I will probably keep calling you Ranger at work and for work-related situations."

"That's fine with me. When we're alone, when we're in private, I would love it if you called me Carlos. Even more, I want to hear you to scream it."

I grinned at my Babe as she blushed. She tried to glare at me but that only caused me to laugh out loud. We were both laughing when Bobby and Riley returned. They took one look at our cosy position and Riley said, "I don't want to interrupt you guys, I just wanted to say goodbye. Now that you have been discharged, I am no longer needed here. It was really nice to meet you Stephanie, and I with you both all the best."

I watched as my Babe crawled out of the bed and hugged Riley. She whispered something in Riley's ear that caused her to blush and then waved as Riley left the room with Bobby.

"What did you say to her Babe? She blushed as much as you did when I mentioned my desire for you to scream my name."

She laughed and said, "I wished her luck tomorrow night. Bobby is taking her out for dinner. It's too bad that they live so far apart, they're perfect for each other."

I smiled at my Babe and said, "If they're right for each other, distance won't keep them apart. Let's get up. Ron will be here soon and I'm excited to see what he's got."

We got up and Babe's bed was moved out of the room. It was replaced with a table by two orderlies 10 minutes later. Bobby had already asked if they could remove the bed and bring in a desk of some sort. It was good that he did because Ron turned up a little while later with a laptop and a whole bunch of drawings.

I let Ron get set up and walked over to the desk when he indicated that he was ready. I sat beside Ron while he showed me everything he had come up with. I was impressed at his take on my requirements.

In his drawings, the ground floor of the building housed a reception area, a separate security room, a fully equipped conference suite, a small catering kitchen with a medium sized dining area, a wet room, a storage area and restrooms. When I thought about few the requirements I had, Ron's additions were genius.

I looked at Ron and said, "Your addition of a kitchen, storage room and security room are great."

Ron smiled and said, "You can thank Stephanie for the kitchen, it was her idea."

I looked at my Babe and said, "That was a genius idea. It means that we can have customers, other law enforcement agencies and prospective clients for meetings without worrying about bringing them into our more secure areas. Food can be prepared and served without accessing other areas. It's a great idea."

Stephanie smiled and Ron continued to show me what he had so far. The 1st floor was like I wanted, but better than I could have imagined. It was filled with warehouse like storage rooms, pressurised clean labs for assembly and repairs of our equipment and a very sophisticated secure storage area akin to a bank vault with safety deposit boxes.

The parking garage was underground but adjacent to the building itself. A visitor parking lot was above the garage. This idea was also not in my original plans, but Ron gave Stephanie credit for it as well. She wondered where people would park when they visited because the new RangeMan building in Boston was not on the street. It would have a driveway and a front lawn and everything.

There would be a basement for the gym and a large swimming pool. There would be a sub-basement for the firing range and weapons storage, and there would be a sub-sub-basement with interrogation suites, fugitive holding facilities and more storage.

The 2nd - 4th floors were filled with offices, cubicles and small, medium and large conference rooms. The layout of these floors was not exactly as I pictured it, but with a few small tweaks, we would get there. Ron was very open to any suggestions I made or if there was anything I didn't like.

The only question Ron had at this point in time is whether I wanted another floor of offices or 5 full floors of apartments. I thought about it and said, "Why don't we leave that open for the moment. I'd like to see what you have for the top 4 floors."

Ron agreed and showed me how the layout of the building would allows for 8 apartments on the 6th and 7th floors and 2 or 3 each on the top 2 floors. After seeing these numbers, I said, "OK, if we can accommodate that many people on the top 4 floors, I vote for the 5th floor to be more offices. Maybe we can put the control room on the 5th floor, separate from the offices and other distractions."

Ron made a few notes and then showed us a mock-up of one of the smaller apartments. It looked a lot like the ones that used to be in the Trenton building. They were laid out in a similar manner. The main difference was that the bathrooms were not ensuite. I bet this was Steph's suggestion as well. She always hated having to go through the bedroom to get to the bathroom in all of the apartments when she visited.

After we went over all of the floors, I said, "I'm 100% happy with the basements, the ground floor and the 1st and 2nd floors. I'm also impressed with the smaller apartments, but I want to think about that for a day or two before I sign off on them. The office floors need a bit of work, but that's not your fault. I didn't really provide any information on the number of cubicles, offices or conference rooms that were required. In fact, I'm not even sure of that myself. I should probably talk to Dan before we finalise those floors. Would we be able to start construction without those floors finalised?"

Ron thought for a moment and said, "I don't see why not. Cubicles don't require and structural support and office walls are easily configurable once the steel shell has been put in. The only issue will be if one of your conference rooms wants to be larger than ½ the width of the building. We would need to place the steel support beams in a different location."

I nodded and said, "Let's get the foundations started and the basements dug. We can finalise the higher floors before we will need them. We can just file a generic layout with the city and resubmit once we've finalised."

Ron agreed and said, "Do you already have a building company lined up to do this work?"

"I'm betting that the RangeMan lawyers already have this organised. I'm sure they've been talking to different companies. They'll be able to tell us when we can get started. I'll ask Tank to put you in touch with the lawyers and the building company."

Stephanie was getting a bit restless so she said, "I think I need to go take a walk. My leg is getting a bit painful from sitting still. I'm sure you guys can get along without me."

I watched as my Babe picked up her crutches and hobbled out of the room. Ron sat there for a few minutes and I said, "I'm really impressed Ron. You have done a great job in such a short time. Would you be willing to oversee the actual construction? I don't mean that you need to be there on a daily basis, but keeping a close eye on the building manager would be really helpful."

Ron smiled and said, "I was actually thinking about being the building manager myself. I realise that will be difficult with the kids, but it would be great experience."

I laughed and said, "If you wanted to wait, you could manage the much larger building in Trenton. I'm so impressed with what I've seen so far that I have another project if you're interested."

Ron thought for a few moments and said, "The building in Trenton would be much easier to manage. What's this other project?"

"Well, I would like to build a house on a piece of land I've owned for 4 years. I have no idea what I want, but I do know that I want it to be family friendly and Stephanie's dream house."

Ron looked at me closely, smiled and asked, "When are you going to marry that woman? I see the way you are around each other and it is clear to all of us that the two of you belong together."

I laughed and said, "I plan on marrying her as soon as she'll have me. She wants to go through all the traditional steps beforehand though. That means dates, engagements and a wedding. I don't care what it takes. I'll do it if it means that I get to spend the rest of my life with her."

Ron smiled and patted me on the shoulder and said, "I'm glad to hear it. I'll head back to the hotel now and alter the designs based on your feedback. The kids will want to come by before dinner to see you, so I'll see you then." I shook hands with Ron and thanked him for his hard work.

Once I was alone, I stood and then walked back over to my bed. Sitting for such a long time without moving has aggravated my back. I crawled onto my bed and pressed the call button. I needed something for my pain.

A nurse arrived moments later and gave me a shot. I would have preferred something a little weaker but the nurse insisted. I must have fallen asleep after the shot because the next thing I knew, Babe was sitting in the chair beside me and Julie was at the end of my bed.

I looked around trying to get my bearings. I saw Bobby, Ron, Emma, Diego, Tank and Lula and looked back at my Babe. "Thanks for joining us Carlos. How are you feeling?"

"Better thanks. I guess I was so impressed with your work Ron that I neglected the warning signs. When I stood up, I was in a lot of pain and was given a shot to help. I guess it made me a bit drowsy."

Julie smiled at me and said, "Papa, you push yourself too hard. We're going to let you get some rest this evening. We're going to go out to dinner. Since some of us are leaving tomorrow, Tank thought it would be fun to go out on their last night here."

"You're right Julie that is a great idea. I'm pretty tired anyway so I'll probably just get some sleep."

Julie hugged me and turned to Stephanie with a raised eyebrow. I knew that Stephanie would refuse to leave me so I decided to give her a bit of a push. "Babe, why don't you join them? I'm feeling pretty tired and I'll probably sleep most of the evening."

I didn't wait for her answer and turned to Bobby. "You should go too. I'll be fine here. They will call you if anything happens."

Both Bobby and Steph looked a little uncomfortable with the request, but they both agreed to go to dinner with the rest of the gang. Julie looked happy with this outcome and said, "We'll be back first thing in the morning Papa. The others will head to the airport and we'll come straight here."

Before they left, both Emma and Diego came over to say goodnight. "Papi Carlos, get well soon and hurry home. We look forward to seeing you again soon."

I smiled at the sweet girl and said, "Sure thing Emma. I'm sure you and Diego will love Ella and Luis. They're going to help take care of you once you get to Trenton."

Diego looked at me and said, "Stephanie tells me that Ella makes the best fudge cake. Is that true Carlos?"

I laughed and turned to my Babe and said, "Well Diego, Stephanie is the expert on cake, so if she says it's the best, it must be the best."

"Great! I love cake!"

Stephanie smiled at Diego and said, "You'll get along with Ella just fine kiddo."

Lula came over and gave me a hug. I thanked her for all her help and she waved me off by saying, "All in a day's work. Don't think nothing of it Ranger. Get well and come home soon."

Tank was a little less wordy when he shook my hand. He simply said, "I'll be in touch," and walked out of the room. Ron was the last to say goodbye. He shook my hand and once again thanked me for the opportunity I was giving him. I smiled and told him that I was also benefiting from his presence. I wished him a safe journey and then I was left alone with Julie and my Babe.

Julie hugged me and skipped out of the room to join the rest of the group. Stephanie leaned down, gave me a soft kiss and asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

"I'm sure Babe. You deserve a nice night out. I'm just sorry that I can't join you. Go have a good time. I'll still be here in the morning."

Stephanie reluctantly left and I dragged my sorry ass around the floor one last time before bed. I walked as quickly as possible and ended up making 5 loops before I got too sore to continue. When I walked past the nurses' station on my final loop, the nurse on duty followed me into my room with a dosage of pain meds. Once the meds were administered, the pain in my back subsided and I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

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The next chapter will be posted in a day or two. It might not come as quickly as these recent chapters. I apologise in advance and thank you for your patience.


	9. Chapter 9

Here's a bit of a longer chapter. I hope you enjoy.

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**_Stephanie's POV_**

Dinner was a lot of fun tonight. When we returned to the hotel, we all gathered in my room. When Bobby booked the room for me, he booked a suite because Julie would be staying there as well. He thought that we'd appreciate a bit of privacy, so we each had our own room and a common area that reminded me of my parents' living room.

We sat around playing games until Emma started yawning. It was clear that she didn't want to go to bed but Ron insisted that the younger two head to bed. Lula helped Emma get ready for bed and made sure that Diego brushed his teeth. Ron allowed Julie to stay up a little longer, but probably just so Emma could fall asleep before Julie went to bed. I remember my mother used to do that when we travelled and Val and I shared a room. I was always sent to bed first so I could fall asleep and then Val would come to bed. The funny thing is that I always stayed awake until Val came to bed. I could never fall asleep in a strange place on my own.

Julie didn't actually last much longer and Ron sent her to be within 20 minutes. Normally, I would have expected a kid to object to being sent to bed when there were lots of people around. Julie on the other hand, accepted Ron's command without a word. She hugged everyone, said goodnight and went to the room she shared with Emma.

Lula moved over on the sofa a little so I could stretch my leg out a little. This meant that she had to move closer to Tank, but neither of them seemed to mind. Once I was settled in and had a pillow under my knee to help with the weight of the cast, Ron looked at us and said, "I think I'm going to head back to my room and do a bit more work. Diego is probably sound asleep by now."

Tank said, "You can use my room. I think we'll stick around here for a little longer and keep Bomber company."

Ron thanked Tank and made his exit after hugging both Lula and I. He said something to Lula that I didn't hear, but it made her smile so I didn't worry about it too much. I knew that Tank and Lula had been spending a lot of time with both Ron and his kids, so it makes sense that Ron and Lula have become friends.

When we settled back down after Ron left, Lula looked at me and then at Tank and said, "We'll have to have some sort of welcome home party for everyone once Ranger is back in Trenton."

I thought about this and said, "I'm not sure Ranger will be up for celebrating just yet. Maybe we should wait until RangeMan is back to fighting strength. Speaking of getting back to Trenton, where are you two going to live?"

I watched Lula's reaction to this and almost laughed when it suddenly dawned on her that she had nowhere to live. Tank's face was blank as usual, but he also smiled at Lula. I decided to ease some of the tension and say, "You can check with Grandma Mazur and see if she's still staying at my apartment. If not, you're welcome to stay there."

Lula laughed and said, "I'm sure that old lady will hold onto that place if it's the last thing she does. Don't worry about me. I'll find a cheap motel or something."

Tank shook his head and said, "You'll do no such thing. RangeMan has lots of safe houses in the area. Many of the guys that lost apartments are staying in them and I'm sure we'll find a space for you too. If not, I have a spare room and you're welcome to stay there if you want."

Lula looked a little uncomfortable with that last suggestion, but thanked Tank anyway. She then excused herself and went to the bathroom. Tank looked at me and asked, "What did I do wrong? I freaked her out by offering her my spare room, didn't I?"

"I can see that you and Lula have gotten pretty close over the past few weeks, but I think Lula is a bit scared of things between the you two getting out of hand like last time. If the two of you are practically living together before you've even seriously started dating, it might make things a bit awkward."

Tank nodded and said, "It's the same for you and Ranger, isn't it?"

"Sort of. I know Ranger wants us to live together, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that myself. I'd rather take things a bit more slowly and be a bit more traditional."

I laughed all of a sudden. Tank looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I giggled again and said, "I don't know why I want something traditional. Neither Ranger nor I are traditional. Nothing between us is traditional and I doubt it ever will be. Maybe I should just get over my fear and move in with Ranger. I do love him after all."

Lula must have heard our conversation because she came and sat down beside Tank. She took his hand, looked him in the eye and said, "I think Steph's got a point. I know things between us have been awkward, but I do love you and I do want to be with you. If your spare room is still available, I'd like to take you up on your offer."

Tank grinned at Lula and asked, "If you love me, would you consider skipping the spare room?"

Lula laughed and said, "Despite our atypical relationship, I'm a traditional girl at heart. I want to slow things down a little, but still be close to you. Would that be OK with you?"

Tank hugged Lula to him and said, "Of course my Lula-belle, I love you and I'll wait for you as long as it takes."

I sat there grinning at my friends. They just took a huge step and I got to witness it. Lula looked over at me smiling. She looked back at Tank and asked, "Steph, could I crash here tonight? I don't want to wake up Julie and Emma when I crawl into bed."

"Sure Lula. You can stay in the room that Julie will use after the rest of you leave."

Lula smiled and thanked me. She needed to grab a few things from her other room so I handed her the key to my room and sat back down to wait for her to return. As soon as the door closed, Tank looked at me and said, "Wow Bomber, who knew that your admission about your feelings for Ranger would have such an effect on Lula? Now you just need to have that same conversation with Ranger and he'll be as happy as I am."

"Thanks Tank. I plan on having a serious conversation with Ranger tomorrow. I think Bobby and Julie are going to go to the airport with you guys. That will be the ideal time for Ranger and me to talk."

Tank smiled and said, "That sounds good to me. Now all I have to do is figure out a way to spend some time with Lula where Diego isn't around. Every time I try to put my arm around her or hold her hand, Diego wedges himself between us."

"I saw that this afternoon. Diego seems to be very fond of Lula and he doesn't like anyone else being close to her. Once he realises that you and Lula are in love, I'm sure he'll back off. I'm sure he's just being protective of Lula."

Tank agreed with my assessment and we spent the time waiting for Lula to return talking. Our discussion mainly focused on the new RangeMan buildings and how Lula and my training will resume when we return to Trenton.

Lula came back with her bag all packed and we decided to watch a film. We chose a silly comedy and laughed pretty solidly for the next 90 minutes. When the film was over, Tank looked at his watch and said, "I think I should bid you ladies goodnight. Tomorrow will be a busy day and we should all get some rest."

I said goodnight to Tank and then went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I figured they would appreciate the privacy. When I emerged from the bathroom, Tank was gone and Lula was sitting on the sofa looking a bit dazed. I smiled at her because I knew exactly what had happened. I acted the same way when Ranger kissed me. I waited until Lula regained her senses and then hugged her before going bed.

**_Ranger's POV_**

I was having a hard time sleeping tonight. The nurse gave me my usual medication, but it didn't make me drowsy like it usually did. I didn't have a laptop or anything like that so I was forced to press the call bell and ask for some paper and a pen.

The nurse helped me raise my bed and pull over the rolling table so I could work. She then handed me an empty notebook as well as some pens and pencils. I started making notes about some features that would be useful for the Trenton building but in the end, I started drawing things that were more personal to me. After two hours and filling an entire notebook, I lowered my bed and tried to get some sleep.

Morning came early for me, but I forced myself to get up and move around. I went for a walk and on my third time around, a nurse stopped me and told me that my doctor was waiting for me. He was hoping to remove my stitches today. As soon as I heard that news, I hurried to my room. The doctor examined my back and then said, "I have good news and bad news."

"OK, let me have it."

"I can remove the stitches on your back but I can't release you until we've done thorough tests on your lung functions. One of your lungs was damaged in the accident and we need to make sure that it is healing and that there is no sign of infection before we can let you go home."

"What kinds of tests are involved?"

"We'll take some blood, have you breathe into a tube, take some x-rays and maybe a scan if the x-rays are inconclusive. Before I will let you leave here, you'll also need to pass an exercise stress test. Since you are extremely fit, this shouldn't be a problem for you, even in an injured state."

"That doesn't sound so bad. How soon can we run those tests?"

"I'll take a blood sample now and the nurse can give you a gizmo to test your breathing. The scans and the exercise test will have to wait until we get the results from your blood test. We should get the results tomorrow afternoon so I can tentatively book the x-rays for early evening. We can do the exercise test at the same time. If we get the x-rays back and you need another scan that will have to wait until the following day."

"So your bad news is basically saying that I'll be here until Sunday at the earliest, Right?"

"Yes. I know how eager you are to get out of here, but due to the damage that you sustained to your lungs, it is best that you stick around until I'm sure you're on the road to recovery. I'll want you to see your doctor back home every 3 months for follow-up tests and scans. I'll make sure that is included in the instructions I send with Mr. Brown. Now, if you will follow me, I'll take you to an exam room and remove your stitches. I'm sure you'll appreciate being able to take a shower afterward."

I nodded and followed the doctor to a room that was equipped for minor procedures. After removing my stitches, the doctor thoroughly cleaned the wounds on my back. When he was done, he handed me a funny top. I must have made a funny face because he laughed and said, "This shirt will allow your back to remain uncovered. I would like you to wear this for the rest of the day so your back doesn't get aggravated by a shirt rubbing on you wounds. If you keep your back to people, they will just assume you're wearing a regular shirt."

Before I returned to my room to take a much anticipated shower, the doctor took some blood. I shook his hand, thanked him for his time and walked back to my room. As soon as I was inside, I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. My Babe had left me some things to use. There was some shampoo, body wash and a shaving kit.

I had a longer shower than I would normally take, and I was luxuriating in the warmth of the water. I towel dried my hair, dressed in a pair of sweat pants that Bobby had provided and the open-backed shirt that the doctor had given me. I looked at myself in the mirror to find a beard on my face. I rubbed my jaw and realised that it was too long to simply shave off. I would need to cut the hairs before I could shave. I didn't have the necessary tool so I decided to leave it. I would go and get a hot shave when we returned to Trenton.

I walked out of the bathroom and picked up my notebook. I flipped through the dozens of pages I had written on and added notes to a few. At 8:30, there was a knock on the door. I looked up and saw Ron. He came in and handed me a few rolls and a stack of paper. I looked at him and said, "What's this?"

He smiled at me and said, "The rolls are the plans for the Boston building. You can make notes on them and give them back to me when you come home. The other papers are the notes I've taken about the Trenton buildings. Stephanie and I had a bit of a brainstorming session and this is the result. I know we don't need those plans quite yet, but I thought you'd like to see our ideas and maybe come up with a few guidelines for me. This last page is for your other project that I can easily do alongside the RangeMan buildings if you want to move forward quickly."

"Thanks Ron. This will keep me busy for the next few days until I return to Trenton. If you are sure you can multi-task these projects, maybe I will take you up on that offer. I still need to talk to Stephanie though. I will need her input as well."

Tank, Lula and the kids came in to say goodbye when Ron and I were finished. Emma actually gave me a hug before she left and said, "Come home soon Papi Carlos. Stephanie has promised that you'll take us to visit her parents and have some pineapple cake."

I grinned and said, "Sure thing little one. There are plenty of other things to do and places to see in Trenton and the area. I'm sure we'll all have a great time."

Diego was a proper little man and shook my hand before wishing me a speedy recovery. I shook hands with Tank and received a hug from Lula. While she had her arms wrapped around me, she whispered, "Steph convinced me to take a chance. I'm moving in with Tank. Treat her well Batman."

When Lula pulled away, I smiled at her and said, "I'm happy for the two of you and I plan on taking care of Stephanie for the rest of my life."

Bobby stuck his head into the room and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt guys, but we need to go. Julie is already in the car and waiting."

Bobby then looked at me and said, "Steph will be up in a few minutes. She's down at the car with Julie. We'll come back after their flight leaves."

I waved goodbye to everyone and pulled the papers towards me that Ron had left. I was busy looking at that single sheet of paper when Stephanie came in with a huge smile on her face. "Hey Babe, how are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm great Ran-, I mean Carlos. I have done some thinking over the past few days and I've come to a decision."

I slammed my blank face on and asked, "What's that Babe?"

Steph frowned a little and then said, "It's nothing bad Carlos, there's no need for the blank face."

I raised an eyebrow and then relaxed. Babe laughed at this and then said, "I know I told you that I wanted to take things slow and be more traditional with you, but I was wrong. I'm not traditional. You're not traditional. Why should we be traditional? I love you and I know that you love me. That's enough for me. I want to be with you and I want our life together to start as soon as you're released from here."

"That's wonderful Babe. I want the same. As a matter of fact, I have something to show you." I shifted over on my bed and patted it so my Babe would sit beside me and be able to elevate her leg at the same time.

"Babe, I don't just want to be with you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. To that end, I would like us to build our dream house together."

My Babe looked at me and I could see tears in her eyes. Normally, tears would be cause for concern, but the smile on her face dispelled any worry. I turned myself and took my Babe's face in my hands and kissed her. The kiss started out softly. It quickly turned into a passion fuelled make-out session that ended only when a nurse came in and cleared her throat.

Steph was beet red but the nurse paid her no notice. She walked around to my side of the bed and placed a plastic tube on the table. There was a mouth piece attached to the tube and there was a ball of some sort inside the tube.

"Mr. Manoso, I need you to blow into this tube. As long as you can keep the ball aloft for 10 seconds, I will leave you and your wife to more pleasant activities."

I looked at my Babe and she smiled encouragingly. I pulled the contraption towards me and blew into it. Who knew 10 seconds was that long? I tried about 6 times before I finally managed to do it. The nurse stopped me part way through and suggested that I take a break but I wasn't having any of that. I wanted to get this over with so I could return to my discussion with my Babe.

When I was finally able to hold the ball with my breath for 10 seconds, the nurse took the tube and its mouthpiece away and set it on the table by the window. Before she left, she looked at me and said, "You'll need to do that once more later this afternoon and another time before bed tonight. Tomorrow, we'll increase the time to 15 seconds. If you can do that three times, the doctor will be convinced that your lung capacity had not been compromised."

I groaned at the thought of doing that again. The idea of just 5 more seconds was enough to make me want to sign myself out of the hospital AMA. I looked at my Babe who said, "Don't even think about it Ranger. I know it's hard, but you need to do this to get better. You don't want to get a lung infection or something like that do you? That would keep you unavailable to RangeMan even longer."

I sighed and said, "Fine. My mother would find this funny if she were here. She always called me a blow hard."

I smiled with delight as I watched my Babe laugh at me. She looked deeply into my eyes and said, "Who knew you had a sense of humour Batman?"

"Hey, what can I say, I'm a funny guy. Now, let's get back to what we were talking about earlier. I have asked Ron and he has agreed to help us build our dream house. I bought a piece of land a few years ago in the outskirts of Trenton. It's on a hill that overlooks the Delaware River.

"Ron has given me the plans to a generic 4 bedroom family home, but I want us to build something that suits us. I want the house to be our home. Where friends and family are welcome and will feel comfortable."

My Babe was nodded as I spoke, but when I stopped for a moment to let her speak, she said, "Shouldn't we talk about a few other things before we decide what our house will look like?"

"Like what Babe?"

"Oh I don't know. Let's start with do we want to have extra bedrooms for future children?"

I smiled at my Babe and said, "I once told you that I didn't want silly things like family and children. Ever since I met you, I've had to rewrite my rulebook. When I said those words to you, I honestly meant them. I was just getting my feet under me and RangeMan. I also thought that you deserved better than me because I couldn't offer you anything at the time.

"RangeMan is still important to me, but I've come to realise that there is more to life than work. Loving you has made me want more than just my job. I want you Babe, and anything you want is fine with me. If you want a dozen babies, I'll enjoy making them. If you don't want any kids, I'll be fine with that too. If you want to be my wife, I'll make you the happiest woman in the world."

My Babe stared at me and asked, "Was that a proposal Carlos?"

I laughed and said, "I guess it was. I honestly do want to marry you Babe. I had planned to wait until after our third date, but I can't wait that long. Will you Babe? Will you marry me?"

**_Stephanie's POV_**

I was listening to Carlos reiterate his feelings about relationships. I thought we were making progress, but maybe not. Then, he went on to say that he wanted to be with me and we should build our dream house. How could he ask me this before we've even discussed what we wanted out of our relationship together? I figured I would bit the bullet and ask.

His answer surprised me. It sounded like he just proposed to me. When I questioned him, he came right out and said the words. The tears that were swimming in my eyes now fell as I nodded. "Of course, Carlos. Of course I'll marry you."

Ranger pulled me into a hug, but we were unable to seal it with a kiss because we heard a squeal from doorway of the room. We both turned to see Julie standing there with both her hands covering he mouth.

"Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Did you just ask Steph to marry you Papa?"

Ranger gave Julie the widest smile I have ever seen. He waved Julie forward and asked, "Is that OK with you? Is it OK with you if I marry Stephanie?"

"Yes it is OK with me, Papa."

Julie turned and looked at me and asked, "Does this mean that I can call you Mama?"

I laughed and said, "If Ron and your Papa are OK with that, I'm fine with you calling me Mama."

Julie grinned and said, "I'm so excited. Will you have a big wedding with a big white dress and everything?"

I thought for a moment and looked over at Carlos. "Well, we haven't really talked about what we want yet, but I think we'll probably have a small intimate wedding with immediate family and close friends only. As you already know, I had a big Burg wedding with a fluffy white dress. That marriage didn't really turn out well, so I have no desire to repeat that. I'd rather have something small."

I looked over at Carlos and he smiled and nodded. I then looked back at Julie and said, "Would you consider being one of my bridesmaids?"

Julie grinned and in that moment, she was the spitting image of her father. She had his hair, his eyes, his smile, but she was still a beautiful girl. For the first time, I was able to picture a small boy with my eyes and Carlos' face. I could see a small girl who looked just like Julie, but with curly hair.

When I was with Dickie, children were the farthest thing from my mind. Then the divorce happened. When I was with Joe, children were always on my mind, but I never actually wanted them. Now that I was with Carlos, I could actually envisage myself holding Carlos' child in my arms, our child. I must have lost myself in my thoughts because the next thing I noticed, Julie was snapping her fingers in front of my face and saying, "Mama? Are you OK?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have started day-dreaming. When you smiled, I saw how much you looked like your father and it just got me to thinking, that's all."

"Does this mean that I'm going to have another brother or sister?"

I looked at Carlos and when I made eye contact, he winked at me. I turned back to Julie and said, "I don't know, but let's not rule it out of the realm of possibility."

"Oh that would be so awesome Papa."

Carlos smiled at Julie and said, "Stephanie and I plan on building a house. Your Dad is going to help us draw up the plans when we get back to Trenton. Is there anything specific that you want in your room?"

"You mean that I will have a bedroom at your house?"

"Of course you'll have a room at our house. If Ron decides to stay in Trenton, we can work out a schedule so you can stay with us for some of the time. If Ron goes back to Miami or somewhere else, you'll always have a place to stay that is your own when you visit. Either way, you are a part of our family. You are my daughter, we both love you and you should have your own space in our home."

Julie looked like she was actually going to cry when she looked at me. I smiled at her and she hugged me. "I'm so glad that you and Papa are going to be married. I see how happy you are together and I saw how miserable he was when you were apart."

Julie turned to Carlos and said, "Papa, the only thing I need in my room is you and Mama to be nearby. Everything else is just a bonus."

The three of us talked about the house in general terms for another ½ hour. At that time, Bobby came in, picked up the tube device and said, "Ranger my man, you need to do your exercises. Ten seconds in one breath and then you can go back to your planning."

I watched as Carlos grimaced and took the device. He struggled for a few minutes, but he was able to successfully hold the ball aloft for the requisite 10 seconds. When Bobby was satisfied, he returned the device to the table and said, "I've got a date to get ready for. I'm sure you three can occupy yourselves for the rest of this afternoon and evening."

Ranger nodded and said, "Right you are. I'm sure my ladies and I will find things to do this evening. Enjoy yourself Bobby. You deserve a little fun."

Bobby smiled and left us alone. We spent the next hour answering questions that Julie came up with. Whenever we were unable to answer a question because it was a topic we had yet to discuss, Julie would prompt us to discuss it and come to a tentative or more formal conclusion.

The first topic of course, was how many bedrooms we would need. At first, I said 4. At the same time, Carlos said 6. Julie laughed and asked me why I said 4. I explained that we'd need a room for us, a room for her, a guest room and a nursery if we ever decided to have a baby.

When she turned the same question on her Papa, he said, "A room for us, a room for Julie. His reasoning included a room for each of Emma and Diego when they visited. These rooms could double as spare rooms. The final two rooms would be for our potential children.

Julie sat there silent for a moment and then said, "So, based on Mama's plan, you can only have one baby. Based on Papa's plan, you can have two and the three of us Martine kids can also come and visit. I like that idea better."

We both laughed at Julie, but I had to admit, I kind of liked the idea of a little boy and a little girl too. I decided to change the subject and asked, "Will this house come with a pool?"

"It will if that's what you want Babe."

"Of course I'm sure you'll want a gym, loads of security and a state-of-the-art everything."

"Well Babe, I do like my toys. A gym in the basement wouldn't be a bad idea though. That would save me working out at the RangeMan building if I could do some of it at home. We could put in a pool, an amazing kitchen, a large screen TV and of course, we'll have the best security system that RangeMan offers."

I laughed at the idea of the amazing kitchen. "What good is a great kitchen with me around? It's not like it's going to get a lot of use."

"Babe, you underestimate me. Just because I've always relied on Ella doesn't mean that I can't cook. In fact, I'm a great cook. "

"Are you serious? That's a bit of a relief. I have nothing against cooking. I just seem to cause minor disasters every time I try."

"I bet each of those disasters happened when you tried to cook alone or with your mother looking over your shoulder. When you cook with me, we'll have a great time. We'll do it together, just like everything else we'll do."

Julie sat there and watched Carlos and I just stare at each other. After about 5 minutes, Julie must have become bored because she said, "I'm so glad that you weren't ready to be my Daddy when I was a little girl."

I was a bit surprised by this, but Carlos didn't show surprise. Instead, he asked, "Why do you say that Julie?"

"If you had stuck around, you'd have wasted your life with my mother. Because you left, Ron happened. Because you left, you met Stephanie and now we are all going to be so happy as one great big happy family."

I looked at this young girl and had to admit that her statement was a very mature and wise point of view. Carlos must have thought the same thing because he pulled her close and spoke to her while holding her face in his hands. "Julie, you are one special young lady. Do you know that?" She nodded as he continued. "I love you so much and no matter what happens, even if Steph and I have other kids, I will always love you."

"I know that Papa. I love you too."

* * *

Thanks for reading and for all of the encouraging reviews. Keep them coming. :)


	10. Chapter 10

Another long one for you. Enjoy!

* * *

**_Julie's POV_**

Papa, Mama and I sat and watched a film on her laptop. When it was over, I looked over and saw that both of them were sound asleep. They were so sweet together. I pulled Steph's laptop towards me and took it over to the small sofa by the door. I turned down the volume and watched another DVD.I was about 1/2 way through the film when Papa's doctor came in the room. He saw me first and then he saw Papa and Mama sleeping. He smiled at them and whispered, "Do you think your father would mind if I woke him up? I need to run a test?"

I didn't have to make that choice because Papa groaned and said, "I'm awake. What kind of test?"

"I need you to breathe into that tube again. This time, I want to listen to your lungs while you do it. If you can successfully keep the ball in the air for 10 seconds on your first try, I have a surprise for you."

Papa looked over at Mama who was still sleeping and slowly crawled out of the bed so as to not disturb her. Once standing, he looked at the doctor and asked, "Where would you like to do this? Should I stand or sit?"

The doctor looked around the room and pointed to the sofa beside me. There was enough room at the end for the doctor to stand and lean over Papa as he blew into the tube. I watched Papa take several calming breaths. As soon as the doctor was ready, he placed his stethoscope on Papa's back.

Papa took a huge deep breath and then blew into the tube for as long as he could. I kept watch on the seconds passing on the little clock in the room and was glad when 10 seconds passed and Papa was still blowing.

After 15 seconds, Papa faltered and the ball dropped. "That was excellent Mr. Manoso. Your lungs sound healthy and based on your lung capacity, I'm positive that you are well on your way to a full recovery."

The doctor turned and looked at me and then over at Mama. He chuckled a bit and said, "She can sleep through anything, can't she?"

Papa smiled and nodded, but said nothing. The doctor then turned serious and said, "There has been a cancellation this evening and I would like to suggest that we take that appointment and get a scan of your lungs. Based on what I heard when I listened to your breathing just now, everything seems fine. An x-ray probably wouldn't show anything, so a scan seems like a better idea. If everything goes fine, I would consider letting you leave here tomorrow afternoon. That's a whole day earlier than I originally planned."

Papa stood very quickly and said, "Let's go and get that scan. The sooner I get out of here, the sooner we can get on with our lives."

The Doctor smiled and then he looked down at me. "We could be gone for up to an hour. It just depends on what the technician sees when he's running the scans. We'll have your father back as soon as we can."

Papa looked down at me as well and said, "When she wakes up, why don't you and Mama go get yourselves some dinner?"

I nodded and watched as they left the room and headed down the hallway towards the elevators.

I decided to let Mama sleep and I returned to finish my film. Papa hadn't returned by the time the film was over so I decided to check my email and send an update to Ron.

I was just finishing the email when I heard a noise from the other side of the room. I pressed 'Send' and looked up to see a very disorientated Mama.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

The look on Mama's face was priceless. "Asleep? I fell asleep. Wait? Where's Carlos? What happened?"

"Well, you and Papa fell asleep when we were watching a film. It ended and came over here to let you sleep. Papa's doctor came in and made him do that blowing test and then he took him for a scan."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Babe." I looked up and saw Papa smiling at us from the doorway. "There was a cancellation and after listening to my lungs, he figured an x-ray wouldn't provide any helpful information. Getting the scan tonight means that if it is clear, I can get released tomorrow."

Mama rushed over to Papa as best she could and hugged him. "That's wonderful Carlos. We can finally go home."

They were interrupted when Mama's stomach growled. She looked down at her watch and said, "I think some food is in order. Julie and I will go grab something and bring it back here. We'll make sure we get enough for you Carlos. I know the hospital food isn't very good."

Papa nodded and said, "Thanks. I think a fat filled burger would probably do me some good right now. Just try and find a place that makes real burgers."

Mama laughed and promised to return shortly. We headed out, leaving Papa to fend for himself. Actually, we left him with the laptop and his phone, so I'm sure he was going to make arrangements to go home.

**_Ranger's POV_**

As soon as Babe and Julie left, I called Tank. I knew he'd be back in Trenton by now, but I had no idea where he'd be. I figured he'd head to the new office to check things out and check in with Boston.

"Yo."

"Hey Tank, what's the word?"

"Ranger, aren't you supposed to be spending the evening with Bomber and Julie?"

"I am. They've just gone out to get some dinner. They'll be back soon. How are things going up there?"

"Well, everything here in Trenton is going well. We're a bit cramped in the new offices, but all accounts are up and running. The guys have been working around the clock getting things organised. Now we're back to regular shifts, and I've pulled in a few contractors to ensure that the guys get some rest."

"That's great Tank. What about Boston?"

"Atlanta will hand back the monitoring duties tomorrow. They are currently working in maintenance mode. No new accounts will be accepted but all existing accounts are covered. They are down 6 men at the moment. Lester has volunteered to go up there and take over until Dan is ready. James, the one you left in charge is very relieved that Lester is coming to help. He's been doing a stellar job though. We should consider giving him a promotion when the dust settles. I think he's up for the 2nd in command role there."

"Great. I'm glad that you'll be staying in Trenton. I'm going to need your help over the next few months."

"Yeah, I figured. Besides, Lula would have been disappointed and Fiona has family in Boston, so it worked out for all of us."

"Fiona? Did I miss something?"

"Not really, but she and Lester have been pretty inseparable lately. They even went on a date the other night. Lester got hit on three times while Fiona was in the bathroom. He turned them all down. I think this is getting serious."

"How on earth do you know that he was hit on Tank? Did you spy on him?"

"Not exactly. By pure coincidence, Ella and Luis were at the same restaurant. Lester didn't see them and they decided to be discreet and not interrupt his date. Ella was impressed with how Lester treated Fiona as well as how he handled the trollops that approached him when his date was in the powder room."

I laughed and said, "It always amazes me when a woman sees a guy on a date and still hits on him. I remember Stephanie confronting a woman who did that to me once. We weren't even on a date, but we were out for dinner. Stephanie made the woman look like a complete fool and I loved it."

"That's Bomber for you. Speaking of Bomber, where will the two of you stay when you get back?"

"That's why I'm calling. I need you to make travel arrangements for Bobby, Steph, Julie and I for Sunday. Mid-morning or around noon would be best. I'm likely going to be discharged tomorrow, but a calm evening in a hotel here might be preferable than travelling so soon."

"Sure. I'll check flights and reserve you seats. Do you want me to find you a hotel room here?"

"No, we're going to stay at the cottage in Point Pleasant. I'm sure my parents don't need the house so we'll likely stay there for the week or two. We'll travel into Trenton as often as necessary. It's not that far."

"I'll ask Ella if she can go and kit the house out. I think she's a bit bored now that she only has a few people to look after."

"Thanks Tank. I'll call you as soon as I'm discharged so you can finalise our flights. Hopefully I'll talk to you tomorrow."

I got off the phone with Tank and then made another phone call that I was not looking forward to.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Plum? This is Carlos Manoso. I'm calling to let you know that Stephanie and I will most likely be returning to Trenton at some point on Sunday."

"Thanks for calling. Do you work for Ranger?"

I laughed and said, "I am Ranger. My name is actually Carlos."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realise."

"That's OK. There is another reason I'm calling. Is your husband around? I would like to talk to the both of you if possible."

"Sure, I'll just go get him and put you on the speaker."

I heard Mrs. Plum move away and I could hear voices in the background. She returned a few minutes later and said, "OK, we're here. Do you have something bad to tell us?"

**_Frank's POV_**

I heard the phone ring but I knew Ellen would get it. I heard her talking and I heard her come into the living room. She looked terrified and said, "Stephanie's boss is on the phone. He wants to talk to us. I think something might be wrong with Stephanie."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know. It's just a feeling I have."

I sighed and followed Ellen into the kitchen. She pressed the speaker phone button and then said, "OK, we're here. Do you have something bad to tell us?"

There was silence on the phone for a moment before I heard Ranger clear his throat. I then heard him say, "I know that this might come as a shock to you both, but I have been in love with your daughter for the past two years. I have watched her date another man, but that seems to be over now. I've basically called because I would like your blessings to marry her."

The look on Ellen's face was pure shock. She looked up at me and then back at the phone without saying a word. I decided to speak for the both of us. "Ranger, you've always looked after Stephanie. You've been there for her when her idiot of an ex-boyfriend wasn't. I have no objections if you want to marry my daughter."

I could hear the smile in Ranger's voice when he said, "Thank you very much Mr. Plum. I know I'm not from the Burg and I'm not Italian, but I will do everything in my power to make Stephanie happy for the rest of her life."

"I don't doubt that Ranger. I've seen the way Stephanie lights up when you walk into a room. I see the way you look at each other. I am sure you will be happy together."

"I appreciate that. Mrs. Plum, I'm hoping I could ask you a favour."

"Sure Carlos. What can I do for you?"

I looked at Ellen and was confused for a moment. Then I remembered that Ranger wasn't his real name. I listened as Ranger explained that he and Stephanie wanted to have a small intimate wedding. I could tell by the look on her face that Ellen didn't approve, but she listened politely anyway.

"I know that big weddings are the tradition in the Burg, but I was hoping that we could do something a little different. I was hoping that I could get you and my mother together so you could plan a big engagement party. We would then have a much smaller wedding and reception."

Ellen looked excited at the idea of planning a party and if I'm honest, I kind of zoned out while they were discussing details. I started to pay attention again when it seemed that they were winding up. Ranger explained that he had yet to tell his family about the engagement, so Ellen should expect a phone call sometime next week from his mother, Maria Manoso.

They agreed on the basics of the party and Ellen seemed really happy with the idea of planning an engagement party. Especially when Ranger said that he'd pay for everything.

"Thanks for your understanding Mr. and Mrs. Plum. From now on, it makes sense that you both call me Carlos. Ranger is a nickname that I use for work and now that you're going to be family, you might as well use my proper name."

Ellen was smiling and said, "Of course Carlos, but please call us Ellen and Frank. Do you think you'll be back early enough on Sunday to stop by here for dinner?"

Carlos was silent for a moment and then said, "I can't guarantee that we will. Instead of getting your hopes up and then not turning up, why don't we plan a day next week instead?"

"That works. What about Tuesday or Wednesday?"

"I think Wednesday would be a good day. I still need to talk to my parents and that will give me the necessary time. I also have to see what's going on with my company. Speaking of which, I would like to thank you for helping out with the salvage operation. The turnout was just amazing and your efforts probably saved my company."

"You're welcome son," I said. "At first, we just went along to shut Edna up. When we got there, we saw a lot of people we knew had also turned up. It was actually fun. Even that stupid ex-boyfriend of Stephanie's showed up. He even mentioned that he expected to hear that you and Steph were together any day now. I'm not sure he's expecting a wedding though."

"Yeah, I should let Stephanie tell him herself. Could I ask you both to keep this between yourself? I don't want the news to spread before Steph has a chance to tell certain people herself.

I looked at Ellen and she nodded. I smiled at her, took her hand and then said, "We'll keep our mouths shut for now. We'll even invite Edna to dinner on Wednesday so you can tell her in person. That way, as long as Joe can keep his mouth shut, it won't appear that we were the last to know."

"I'll make sure he keeps his mouth shut. Thanks for your time and we'll see you in a few days."

After Carlos hung up, Ellen poured us both some coffee and dished out two slices of coffee cake. We sat at the table and I watched Ellen. It was clear that she was struggling with something, but I wasn't sure what.

"What's wrong Ellen?"

"I'm just having a hard time understanding Stephanie's love life. A few short months ago, she was practically engaged to Joseph Morelli. Now, she's agreed to marry her boss. We know nothing about Carlos because he's not from around here."

I laughed and said, "I can't tell you how glad I am that Stephanie did not marry that Morelli boy. I never really liked him. I put up with him for Steph's sake, but I was very happy whenever they broke up.

"As for Carlos, we know everything we need to know. He makes Stephanie happy, he loves her, he can provide for her and he treats her well."

"That is all true, but what about all of the trouble he's had lately. Surely all those explosions have hurt his business."

"Actually, based on what I hear down at the lodge, it's only been an inconvenience. RangeMan has picked up the pieces and is moving forward. I don't know the story of the reason behind the bombings, but I'm sure it is no longer a problem. Carlos runs a very well respected business that has offices in 4 cities. In each case, the teams have pulled together and even when their offices were destroyed, they're still doing their jobs."

"I'm sure you're right Frank. I just wish I knew that Stephanie would be safe with Carlos. If that plane blew up after it took off, we'd not be having this discussion. We'd be mourning our daughter."

I couldn't help but agree to that point, so I didn't disagree with Ellen. Instead, I pulled her into a hug and said, "There are all kinds of dangers in this world. For some reason, Stephanie seems to attract more than usual. I think Carlos will help balance that out. How many times was he the one that rescued her? I think we should be happy for Stephanie. We should be happy that she and Carlos found each other."

When I finished talking, I heard Ellen sniff. I lifted her chin with my finger and asked, "Why are you sad?"

She smiled and said, "I'm not sad. These are happy tears. My baby is getting married and I get to plan a party for her."

I smiled at her and said, "Please don't go making arrangements until you've talked to Stephanie and Maria. You need to work together to make sure this is a party that reflects Stephanie and Carlos. This party is not for you to show off, it's to celebrate an engagement. With that said, I want you to listen to Stephanie's wishes. If she says that she doesn't want something, even if you do, respect her wishes. You know how she gets when people try to force her to do something she doesn't want. I don't want this party to draw a wedge between the two of you.

"On a similar note. Please do not invite Val and her family on Wednesday unless you clear it with Stephanie first. She and Carlos are still recovering from some pretty serious injuries."

"Why wouldn't they want Val and the kids here?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm just asking you to talk to Stephanie before you invite the Kloughns."

"Fine. I'll call Steph on Monday if I haven't heard from her before then."

I leaned in and kissed my wife. I smiled at her and said, "That's all I ask. Just don't go too crazy with dinner. Just make sure there are things that Carlos can eat. You know he's a bit of a health nut."

"Yes, I remember. I think I'll go to the library and look at some of those Vegetarian cook books. Maybe I'll prepare something new just for Carlos."

"Just as long as there's still a roast or some other type of meat, you can make anything else you like."

**_Stephanie's POV_**

I couldn't believe it when Carlos said that he wanted a burger. Julie and I walked the two blocks back to the hotel and asked the concierge about where we could go to get the best burger in town. He gave us directions and said that it would take about 15 minutes to walk there, but I wasn't really in a fit state to walk with my leg and all.

As a result, the concierge arranged for a taxi to take us to the restaurant and to wait for us while we ordered. The taxi would then bring us back to the hospital. Despite that, we were gone for almost an hour. When we walked into Carlos' room, he was typing away on the computer.

He looked up as we walked in and smiled. "Thank god, I'm starving."

Carlos looked at the bags in our hands with a look that I've never seen before. He actually looked hungry. He must really hate hospital food.

We spread the food on the table and Carlos came over and joined us. Julie sat cross-legged on the chair and Carlos sat beside me on the sofa. I watched as Carlos took the first bite of his burger and almost choked on mine when he closed his eyes and moaned.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and after catching my breath I said, "Do you realise that you just moaned?"

Carlos raised both eyebrows, looked down at his burger and put it down. He looked a bit embarrassed and said, "I haven't had proper food in days. I've had a craving for a burger all day. It's rare, but it happens."

I smiled at Carlos and let him eat his burger in peace. He must have been extra vigilant because I didn't hear a sound from him, other than chewing and swallowing for the rest of the meal. Julie was extra quiet during our meal, but talking while eating isn't the easiest thing to do, so I wasn't bothered by the silence.

When we were all finished, Carlos pulled over the laptop and we spent a little while talking about the new house. To give us an idea about the area, Carlos pulled up the lot on Google Maps and showed us where it was. He then showed us the same area using Google Earth. When he said he bought some land on a hill, he wasn't joking. It was more of a cliff overlooking the river. The road was quite far from where Carlos wanted to put the house so it would be quite isolated and have lots of privacy.

The plot of land was huge, but then again, the house that Carlos wanted to build sounded huge as well. It was getting late and I could tell that Julie was getting tired. Bobby still hadn't come back yet, but that didn't surprise me. He was probably having a great time with Riley. I watched Carlos hand Julie the laptop. She wanted to finish the email she wrote earlier to Ron and send it. While Julie was typing away, Carlos pulled me close to him and said, "I made a few phone calls earlier Babe. One concerns you."

His smile and that phrasing made me a bit apprehensive. "What do you mean it concerns me?"

"Well, I know you aren't very traditional, but your family is, so I called your parents and asked for their blessing."

"Wow, what did they say?"

"They gave their blessing Babe. I also told them that we want a small intimate wedding with only immediate family and a few friends. Your mother didn't like this at first, but I made a compromise. One that you may not like very much, but it will keep our mothers happy."

OK, my apprehension levels just increased. "What did you do?"

"I offered to let our mothers, with the help of Ella, plan our engagement party. I have not yet told them this, but I already have a venue picked out. Since there will be people from both sides of our families attending, I think a nice neutral point would be better than either Newark or Trenton."

"Where did you have in mind? New Brunswick or something?"

"I have an old college friend who owns a resort that overlooks both the Washington Valley Reservoir and Chimney Rock Park near Bridgewater. They have a really nice conference area that can accommodate around 300 people."

"Three hundred people? Do you expect that many?"

"I don't know Babe, but I do have a large family. At least there will be room if our mothers decide to invite every living soul they know."

"Carlos, this is going to cost a fortune."

"It will be worth it to get the wedding we want Babe. Besides, if Ella and our mothers prepare the food, it won't be too bad."

"How soon will you want this party?"

"That depends, Babe. How soon do you want to get married?"

"I don't know Carlos, we've barely decided that we will get married. I still have to tell my family and friends. Oh my God. Now that you've told my parents, the news will be all over Trenton by the time we get back."

"Your parents promised to keep it a secret until you can tell your Grandma and your sister yourself. That reminds me. We're supposed to go to your parent's for dinner on Wednesday."

"Great. I hope my mother doesn't freak out and try to take over everything."

"I'm sure she won't. Maybe you can call her and explain your wishes. I'm sure she'll have lots of questions when we go on Wednesday."

"That's a good idea Carlos. I'll call home after we get back to the hotel tonight. I'm sure my mother will still be up."

"There's something else you should do Babe. You should give Morelli a head's up. I think he'd prefer to hear this from you than the rumour mill. The same goes for Lula. If she doesn't hear this directly from you, she'll probably disown you."

I thought for a moment and said, "It's going to be hard to time this all. If I tell Lula or Joe before I tell my Grandma and Val, there's a chance it will get out. Maybe if you order Lula to keep it a secret, she will."

"I could do that Babe. I could make it a RangeMan order and she'll have to comply or jeopardise her job."

"Great. We can tell Lula and Tank tomorrow when they pick us up from the airport. We should tell Ron and the kids as well, but we'll have to swear them all to secrecy."

Julie had followed the whole conversation and finally asked, "Why is it such a secret? Don't you want to tell people that you are getting married?"

I looked down at Julie and smiled. She didn't know what it was like in Trenton. "When one person finds out that we're engaged, they'll mention it in passing to another person. Before long, the entire town knows. There are just some people that we want to tell ourselves, so requesting that people keep this news to themselves, we'll be able to tell all the ones that matter and nobody will be too offended."

Julie frowned and said, "It sounds like Trenton is filled with a lot of gossipers."

Both Carlos and I laughed. Carlos took Julie's hand and said, "You have no idea. Half of the rumours flying around aren't even true. Poor Stephanie has dealt with it her whole life. If one of the neighbours sees her do something out of the ordinary, and let's face it, Stephanie is definitely not ordinary, her mother knows about it within 10 minutes."

Julie smiled and yawned at her Papa. I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was already 9:30. I looked over at Carlos and he said, "I think it's time for you two ladies to head back to the hotel. If I'm getting out of here tomorrow, I'll need to get lots of rest."

I hugged Carlos and he gave me a PG-13 kiss before Julie hugged him goodnight. When we finally left the hospital, I had to admit that I was pretty tired. Who knew that sitting around a hospital all day could be so tiring.

Julie got ready for bed and crawled into bed pretty quickly. I decided to do the same, but instead of going to sleep, I decided to make a couple of phone calls.

"Hi Mom, I hope I didn't wake you."

"Stephanie. I'm glad you called. I hear congratulations are in order."

I smiled and said, "Thanks Mom. I just wanted to call and thank you for being so kind to Carlos."

"He seems like a nice young man. He loves you, he's got a stable job and that's good enough for your father and me."

"I was talking to Carlos about the engagement party and I wanted to let you know that we've already picked out a venue. Other than that, the planning can be done by you and Carlos' mother. Ella will also help as needed."

"I'm glad your father instructed me not to get crazy or I'd already have the VFW hall booked. Where will you have your party?"

"Well, Carlos' family are all from Newark, our family is from Trenton and a lot of our friends are in Trenton. We don't want either side to have to travel far, so we decided on a place in the middle. Carlos has a friend who runs some sort of conference resort in Chimney Rock Park up near Bridgewater. We don't have a date yet, but that's where Carlos wants to have our party."

"I've never been there but Loretta Buzick's daughter had her wedding there. Based on the photos, it's a really lovely place. Maybe once Carlos talks to his friend, we can go out there for an afternoon. It would be a nice way to get to know Carlos' parents. We can also invite Ella and her husband. I know you both think very highly of her and I'd also like to get to know her."

"That's a great idea Mom. I'll mention it to Carlos tomorrow. I guess we'll see you on Wednesday then."

"Oh, that's right, we don't want to overwhelm you and Carlos, so I was wondering if you'd prefer if we don't invite Valerie and her brood."

"I appreciate the gesture Mom, but I would like to tell Val when I tell Grandma Mazur. I know she and the kids can be a bit rambunctious, but we'll deal with it. We may even bring Julie with us."

"Who's Julie? Is that Carlos' daughter?"

"Yup. It's a long story and I will explain it all to you later, but Julie and the rest of her family have moved to Trenton. We'll get to see a lot more of her and I think you should get to know her. After all, you'll be her step-grandma."

"I can't wait to meet her. How old is she?"

"She's the same age as Mary Alice. If Ron decides to stick around after the summer, they may end up going to school together."

"What do you mean if he decides to stick around? I thought you said that they moved here."

"They did, but it might be temporary. Ron is going to design and build the new RangeMan buildings. He is also going to design and build a house for Carlos and me. We're still at the beginning stages so it might take longer than the summer, or it might not. We just don't know yet. There is much more to the story, but I can fill you in later."

"OK. I was thinking of going to the library and looking up some new recipes. Is there anything in particular that you think Carlos and Julie will like?"

"I'm sure Julie will eat anything. As long as there are some vegetables or salad, Carlos will be fine. He just doesn't tend to eat mashed potatoes or heavily sauced things. He's a bit of a health nut."

"OK. I will make a salad and have a few healthy options. Who knows, maybe I can trick your father into eating a little healthier. I've been trying for years."

I laughed and said, "Good luck with that. Daddy noticed when you used margarine instead of butter in the mashed potatoes that one time. He complained for a week."

"I know. I'll call Mother and Valerie tomorrow and make sure they turn up on Wednesday. I won't tell them that anything special is going on. I won't even tell them that you and Carlos will be joining us. I'll let that be a surprise."

"That sounds good. Thanks Mom. I'll see you on Wednesday."

After I got off the phone with my mother, I sat there staring at my phone. I wondered whether I should call Joe or if I should wait until I got back to Trenton. I didn't really know what to say to him when I did talk to him. In the end, I decided to sleep on it. I put the phone on my night stand after setting the alarm. Carlos told us to take our time in the morning, so we decided we would show up around 9AM with breakfast.

**_Carlos' POV_**

After my Babe and Julie left, I read through my email and sent several replies. One of the emails I had was from Joe. It turns out that he was asked to be the Trenton PD liaison to the FBI in their investigations into the RangeMan bombings. He sent me an email to let me know that as soon as I was back in Trenton that he'd like to meet with me and go over some things. I returned the email and said that I could meet him Monday afternoon.

Thinking about Joe and how he helped RangeMan during this whole situation made me wonder if I should talk to him about Stephanie. I know they broke up but I also know he still cares about her. I am sure that Joe feels that I only want one thing from Stephanie. I need to tell him that he's wrong. I want more than one thing from Stephanie. I want everything.

Right then I made a decision. I would call Joe and explain my feelings for my Babe. I would tell him that she was more to me than just someone to sleep with. I would ask him for his blessing, even though I didn't need it."

"Lo."

"Hi Joe, it's Carlos Manoso."

"Hey Ranger, what's with the name change?"

"I wanted to talk to you about a few things that are not RangeMan specific. Ranger is the name I use for business, but Carlos is for more personal conversations, close friends and family."

"That's fair enough. What can I do for you?"

"I need to explain something to you and then I'm hoping you might be willing to help me with something."

"Sure, I can try."

"OK. First of all, I need to tell you that I have been in love with Stephanie Plum for 3 years now. I watched her go back to you several times and it killed me every time. I want to apologise to you for overstepping boundaries when the two of you were together. I know it caused a lot of problems and I am truly sorry for that.

"Now that you two are no longer together, I expressed my feelings for Stephanie. A few weeks ago, she admitted to me that she has similar feelings. During this whole mess, Stephanie and I have spent a lot of time together. During that time together, our feelings intensified and I realised that I wanted more.

"I wanted you to hear this from us instead of the Burg gossip mill Joe. I asked Stephanie to marry me yesterday. She said 'Yes' and I couldn't be happier."

Joe was silent for a moment. I heard him take a deep breath and then he said, "I appreciate your honesty Ranger. I never realised that you were in love with her. If I'm honest, I always thought that you just wanted her in your bed. Steph and I were never good together. I mean, I loved her and I know that she loved me, but we weren't _in_ love with each other, if you know what I mean?

"I have come to realise that you, your company, and your men are not what I thought they were. I saw how your men pulled together and how the community joined in to help when you were in crisis. It was humbling to watch and I'm honoured that I was able to be a part of that and help out. In contrast to our past hostilities, I honestly wish you and Stephanie the best of luck."

"Thanks Joe. I really appreciate that. I also appreciate everything that you did for RangeMan. I have been an ass to you in the past. I hope to rectify that in the future. You are a good man, a great cop and I look forward to showing you that there is more to me than my RangeMan street persona."

"That sounds good to me. Maybe we can meet up for a beer or something once you're back at fighting strength. No pun intended."

I laughed and agreed that going out for a drink with Joe was a good idea. We made arrangements to meet on Monday and then I hung up. I looked at the time and decided that I could make one more quick call. I was sure that my parents would be awake still, even if they were already in bed. They liked to read until late.

"Carlos, is that you?"

"Yes Papa, it's me. Is Mama around? I have some news."

"Yes, she's just in the other room. She'll be back in a moment. Tank has kept us updated on your condition. I'm glad that you are doing well."

"Thanks Papa. I was lucky, but my business is still strong and I'll be home in a couple of days. I'm sure my doctor will put me on light duty for a while, but I can still work and recuperate. Since my apartment was destroyed in the explosion, I was hoping that you had no objections if I stay at the house in Point Pleasant?"

"Sure Carlos, you have a key and everything, right?"

"Yes Papa."

"Here's your mother."

"Hi Mama. I have some news for the two of you."

I heard my mother move closer to the phone and ask, "Is this good news or bad news?"

"Neither Mama. It's actually great news. The woman I love more than anything on earth has agreed to marry me."

"What woman? I didn't even know you were dating anyone."

"You've actually met her Mama. She was the one who helped me when Julie was kidnapped. It's just taken me a little while to admit my feelings."

"Wow Carlos. We're really happy for you. Would you bring Stephanie up for dinner one night soon? We'd like to get to know your future wife."

"Sure Mama. We can come up Thursday or Friday. We get back to Trenton on Sunday and we have to settle into the house at Point Pleasant because both our apartments were destroyed in the explosion. We also need to do a bit of shopping. We lost pretty much everything."

My dad asked, "What about a ring? Do you still need to buy a ring? I can't imagine there are many jewellery buying options in the hospital."

"No Papa. I bought a ring a while ago. It was locked in the safe in my apartment with the building was blown up. The safe was salvaged and its contents were in-tact. I will give the ring to Stephanie as soon as we get back."

I promised to bring Stephanie on Friday night. My parents warned me that they were going to invite my siblings and Abuela Rosa would of course be there. They would keep my news a secret so we could share it ourselves when we arrived. After I said goodnight to my parents, I went for a walk around the floor. My back was feeling much better and I refused the pain meds when they were offered.

When I returned to my room, I took a long, hot shower. I can't remember the last time that I stood under the hot water spray for so long. It was so long that the hot water actually ran out. After my shower, I dried off, dressed in some clean clothes that Bobby had provided earlier that day. I crawled into my bed and thought about my Babe. I pictured the look on her face when I finally give her the ring I bought.

Thinking about giving Stephanie that ring gave me an idea. I booted the laptop up and sent an email. Thinking about my plans put a smile on my face that was still there when I drifted off to sleep a little while later.

* * *

Next chapter will appear soon. Let me know what you think so far...


	11. Chapter 11

This one's a little shorter than the previous couple, but I'm sure you won't hold that against me. Please enjoy.

* * *

**_Carlos' POV_**

On my morning walk, I found that my back was feeling a lot better. I twisted and flexed my shoulders and back as I did my rounds. Each time I passed the nurses' station, a nurse would add a tick to the board. I finally called it quits when she crossed out the 4th set of 5 marks, indicating that I had just walked around the floor 20 times.

It wasn't a 5 mile jog, but it did get my heart rate up. I walked into my room and pulled out some fresh clothes from the bag Bobby had left. I had a quick shower and was back out in my room checking my email when Bobby walked in around 8:30.

"Hey man, how are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine Bobby. I just did 20 laps of the floor and I haven't had any pain meds in over 12 hours. The doctor also came by last night and listened to my lungs when I blew into that stupid tube. He seemed satisfied with what he heard and because there was a cancellation, I had a scan done."

Bobby looked at me and said, "What time is the doctor due in today?"

"I'm not sure. He said that he might release me early if the scan comes back clear."

"That's great news. I'll go see if I can get a look at your scans and find out when your doctor is due back."

Before Bobby disappeared, I asked, "Bobby, how was your date last night?"

I saw pain cross Bobby's face for an infinitesimal amount of time before he smiled and said, "It was great actually. Riley's a great girl. I just wish she didn't live all the way down here."

I smiled at Bobby and said, "Keep the faith man, it'll work out the way it's meant to."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I don't suppose you want to open a RangeMan branch in Baltimore?"

"Maybe not Baltimore, but I wouldn't rule out D.C. somewhere down the road."

Bobby gave me a small smile and threw me the breathing tube before he headed out of the room. I picked up the contraption and took a deep breath. I knew I could reach the 15 second mark because I'd done it the night before, so it only took me 3 tries before I pushed the tube away and set it on the table.

I walked over to the table and booted up the laptop. I checked my email and found an invitation for a meeting with Joe at 2PM on Monday. I accepted the meeting request and read through the other messages. There were several messages from clients thanking RangeMan for our continued high levels of service even though we had suffered a serious setback.

A few emails expressed a desire to increase their levels of protection and there were also many requests from new customers. I thought about these requests and then sent Tank an email explaining that Stephanie and I would handle all upgrade and new customer requests. Since we would both be on restricted duties, it actually made sense that we worked together on this project. It would bring money into the company and it would reinforce our place in the community. On a more personal level, it would allow me to work closely with my Babe and it would be good experience for her as I hoped she would be able to do this sort of thing on her own in the future.

After I finished with the emails, I started doing a few Google image searches for things I wanted to put in the house. I looked at fireplaces, pools, windows, doors and a lot of other things. If I found something that I wanted to show Stephanie, I bookmarked the site or saved a picture. I was busy looking at the different types of worktop surfaces for a kitchen when Bobby came back in.

He looked at the screen over my shoulder and looked a bit confused. I didn't think it needed to be a secret so I said, "I'm building a house. I'm just passing the time by looking at various things that I might want to put in it."

"I guess we'll all need to find somewhere new to live eh? I haven't really thought about it too much."

"You don't have to Bobby. Tank has allocated the safe house closest to the new RangeMan offices to you. There isn't a lot of space in the office for you to set up an infirmary so you'll have to do that at the safe house. It's only 2 blocks away from the new office and it's actually a pretty nice place. It's pretty big just for one person, but I figured you might want to set up your office there rather than run back and forth to the office for the time being."

"That sounds good Ranger. It doesn't make sense to have the infirmary and my office in two different locations. Two blocks isn't that far. We'll also need to figure out where to do our physical fitness work and our firearms training."

"There are a lot of things still up in the air, but at least our customers are covered and happy. The publicity we received over this whole thing has actually encouraged a lot of new business. I just hope we can handle it."

"Me too. Hal was saying that the offices are really cramped, but they're doing their best. Maybe we need to look for additional office space and hiring more men."

"I think you're right Bobby. I'll get on that as soon as we're back in Trenton. Even if I get released today, I don't expect to fly home until tomorrow. That means that your evening is free if you want to spend more time with Riley."

"Thanks Ranger. I'd actually like to see her again before I leave. Your doctor is coming by around 11 and I want to be here then. I'll call Riley and see if she's free this afternoon or this evening. What time are Bomber and Julie coming?"

"They should be here any moment. They're bringing breakfast. Why don't you stay and join us?"

"Thanks. I will, I just want to call Riley and see if we can make some plans. I'll be back in a bit."

Bobby disappeared and I was alerted to the presence of Julie and Babe by the smell of something wonderful. They walked into the room pushing a trolley similar to the ones the nurses brought the hospital food in on. I looked at my Babe and wondered how she managed to get all this food here without falling over. She must have sensed my wonder because she said, "Two lovely young men from the hotel helped us with the food. I gave them a nice tip and they carried the trays and bags here. I borrowed a trolley from a nurse when we got to the floor."

I looked at the trolley and saw that there was plenty of food. I was just about to say something when my stomach growled as loudly as Babe's was known to do from time to time. "Whoa there, I think we need to get you some food before your belly rebels Carlos. You are beginning to sound like me."

I laughed and said, "I can't explain it, but the smell of that food just set it off. I'm starving again."

"What's that smell?" Bobby joined us and walked in to help Babe and Julie set up breakfast. As soon as they were done, Babe handed me a plate and said, "You first Batman."

I took the plate and added some scrambled eggs, sausages, a pancake with syrup and even some sautéed potatoes. Bobby watched me with an appraising eye and patted me on the back once I sat down on the chair. Julie helped Babe with her plate and then she and Bobby had a turn. We talked and laughed as we ate. While we ate, I noticed that Bobby was in a pretty chipper mood. After we all had our fill, Stephanie and Julie started to clean up. I pulled Bobby over to the side and asked, "How did it go with Riley? Will you get to see her today?"

Bobby's grin told me everything I needed to know. "Yeah, she's off today. She's just sticking close to home and catching up on some of her chores, but she invited me over to keep her company. I'm going to take her lunch after the doctor comes by."

I wished Bobby luck and was surprised when I looked over to find very few leftovers. I guess we were all hungry. I for one had three helpings and was contemplating a 4th when I thought better of it. Babe condensed the dirty dishes into two easily manageable bags and then made a quick call. Less than 5 minutes later, two hotel employees turned up to collect the remains. I took note of their names and made a plan to ensure that they were well compensated before we checked out of the hotel. Babe returned the trolley and then came back in the room to wait for the doctor to arrive.

**_Stephanie's POV_**

I was beginning to get tired of being at the hospital. There are only so many things you can talk about or look at before you start to go bat raving mad. Breakfast occupied a lot of our morning. I think it probably lasted a whole hour. By the time we had everything cleaned up, it was 10:30.

Bobby kept looking at his watch, and based on his good mood and constant grin, he was seeing Riley later today. I have to admit that I was kind of glad that Bobby would be occupied this afternoon and this evening. It meant that I could spend some alone time with Carlos and Julie. I was looking forward to some alone time with Carlos even more. Just thinking about it made me blush.

I looked up to find Carlos staring at me. This caused me to turn even redder. He simply grinned at me and winked before returning to the conversation he was having with Bobby. Julie was content with the laptop in the corner, so I decided to go into the bathroom and start packing up the things in there. I knew it was a bit of a gamble. What if the doctor didn't release Carlos today? I might be wasting my time. In the end, I decided to pack anyway. I knew that if Carlos was released today, he'd not want to waste any time standing around. This small task would save a few minutes later, so why not.

I came out from the bathroom and placed the small toiletries bag on top of the duffel bag sitting in the corner. Carlos looked at me and I just shrugged. He let it go and returned to his conversation with Bobby.

I went over to the sofa and sit beside Julie. I wasn't really looking over her shoulder, but something on the screen caught my eye. I looked at Julie and she was looking at me, waiting for a reaction. I looked up at Carlos, who hadn't noticed us so I quietly closed the lid of the laptop and whispered, "Let's leave that for now. We can talk about it later if you want."

Julie nodded and put the laptop away. In fact, she gathered all of the DVDs and various other peripherals and put them in the bag so there was little else to do. She sat down beside me and looked around the room. I knew she wanted to talk about what she had seen, but I didn't think right now was the best time or place.

Carlos and Bobby stood and Carlos said, "I'm going to stretch my legs. We won't be long."

As soon as Carlos was out of the door, Julie looked over at me and said, "I can't believe my mother made the news. I'm kind of glad we're not home right now. My friends wouldn't understand and they probably would have teased me relentlessly. That picture of her being booked wasn't very flattering."

I looked down at Julie and my heart broke for her. I hugged her close and said, "I'm pretty sure that you'll make some new friends in Trenton. Just know that there are a lot of people who love you and will not hold your mother's actions against you. You are not defined by what she did."

Julie sniffled a little and said, "I know she did something horrible to Dad and Papa, but she's still my Mom. Is it wrong that I miss her?"

"Of course it's not wrong sweetheart. Once things are a bit more settled, we'll try and figure out a schedule so you guys can visit her if that's what you want. Neither your Dad nor your Papa will keep you away from your Mom if you want to see her."

Julie nodded and cuddled up to me. I looked down at her and smiled. "What did you want to do this evening if your Papa is released from the hospital?"

"I think we should go out somewhere and celebrate your engagement to Papa."

"Engagement? When did this happen?"

We looked up and saw Bobby and Carlos in the doorway. Carlos looked a bit like a deer in headlights while Bobby looked shocked and annoyed. Carlos turned to Bobby and said, "I asked Steph yesterday. You were preoccupied so I never got a chance to share the news with you. Please keep this to yourself. We want to be the ones to tell the guys back home."

"OK. I'll keep it to myself. I'm not going to want to talk to any of the guys tonight anyways. I'll be with Riley and I don't anticipate doing any RangeMan business if I can help it. I'm officially taking the night off."

I watched Carlos grin at him and said, "As your boss, I whole heartedly approve your request for time off. I will not contact you and I will instruct Tank to make it known that Bobby Brown is offline until 09:00 tomorrow morning."

Bobby looked a bit sheepish and Julie and I laughed at his reaction to Carlos' declaration. "Thanks Ranger. I appreciate the time off."

Carlos' doctor chose that time to knock on the door and come in. He looked around at everyone, focused on Carlos and said, "Hello, I have some good news and some bad news."

I saw Carlos' face drop. I think he assumed at that moment that he was not getting out of the hospital. He looked at the doctor but said nothing. "I'll start with the good news. Your scans came back clean. There is no sign of infection and the damage to your lungs looks like it is healing nicely."

"Then what's the bad news?"

"Ah, well, in order to leave the hospital, you're going to have to ride in a wheelchair. It's hospital policy."

Carlos' face turned from a blank expression to one that made my breath catch. He was smiling so widely that that I couldn't take my eyes off of his face. Then, he tilted his head back and barked with laughter. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to tell me I couldn't leave the hospital. I'll take this kind of bad news any day. I can manage a ride in a wheelchair if it means I can get out of here."

"Just come and sign some paper work and you can be out of here within the hour."

I watched Carlos jump to his feet and say, "Lead the way."

Julie and I were left alone in the room so we gathered up all of Carlos' belongings and threw them in the bag on his bed. Bobby and Carlos returned 15 minutes later, both with grins the size of Texas on their faces. Carlos looked at the packed bag on his bed and said, "As soon as an orderly turns up with a wheelchair, I'm good to go. Are you two ladies ready to get out of here?"

We both nodded and Bobby said, "Do any of you mind if I head out now? I want to stop at the store and get a few things for my afternoon with Riley. You know, flowers, some food for a picnic, that sort of thing."

I looked over at Bobby and smiled. He looked back at Ranger, waiting for permission to leave. Carlos finally took pity on him and said, "You are offline as of this moment. Have a great time and we'll see you tomorrow morning when we head to the airport. I'll text you the flight details, but don't feel obligated to read them until later."

Bobby grinned and was gone. Carlos turned back to us and said, "I guess the next thing on the agenda is lunch. Is there a good place to stop between here and the hotel?"

Julie nodded and we gathered up our things to wait for the wheelchair. Julie insisted on carrying my purse and Carlos insisted on carrying the duffel bag, leaving me with just my crutches to manhandle. That was probably a good idea as balancing a bag with mu crutches wasn't the easiest thing in the world. We were joined a few minutes later by an orderly with a wheelchair and the nurse that had reassured me when Carlos was still in a coma. She looked at me and smiled and said, "Mr. Manoso, I do believe that your chariot awaits. Please climb aboard so that your lovely wife and daughter can get the hell out of here."

There was no need to tell Carlos this twice. He practically jumped into the chair with his duffel bag on his lap. Less than 5 minutes later, we were standing on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. Carlos looked around and said, "Lead the way to a place where we can get lunch." Julie took his hand and led him with me following along in their wake.

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The next chapter will be up in a couple of days. Encouragement is always welcome.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry it's be longer than usual for this post. Life just got in the way. Enjoy!

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**_Carlos' POV_**

Julie was so excited that we were actually going to get to spend the evening outside of the hospital. We talked about going out for dinner, but it was just after noon now and there was plenty of time to decide that.

Bobby was off visiting Riley so we didn't have a rental car at our disposal. Bobby said that he'd make sure he was back in time to take us to the airport, but he wouldn't be around this evening. That meant that we had to stick close to the hotel or take a taxi. I would let Babe and Julie decide after we're a bit more settled in back at the hotel.

Julie and Babe were sitting at a booth in a restaurant eating lunch. It was a bit early, it wasn't even 11:30, but we ate nonetheless. We were discussing our evening options when my phone rang. The phone was sitting on the table so Babe reached over and handed it to me.

I answered the phone, listened for a few minutes and groaned. I thanked the caller and hung up.  
"What's wrong Papa?"

"That was the FBI. They need me to go to their offices this afternoon. They have some questions for me. Something else is up, but I'm not sure what. They're sending a car for me in 30 minutes."

Babe looked at me with frustration in her eyes and asked, "How long will you be gone?"

"I'm not sure, but we're still going out for dinner tonight. I want to take my two beautiful ladies out on the town."

I realised something at that moment. I looked at my Babe and said, "Actually, I just realised that I don't have any suitable clothing for a night out on the town. Perhaps I can send you two shopping to get some things. Ella has all my sizes so she'll be able to help you if you give her a call."

Both Julie and Stephanie perked up at this idea. While they discussed where to go, I thought about the contents of my bag and what clothes were in there. The best I could do was a pair of black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. Normally, I'd dress a bit more business appropriate, but I'm sure they'll understand if I show up dressed in my usual RangeMan attire.

I handed Stephanie my credit card and said, "Why don't you and Julie buy yourselves a nice outfit for tonight to go with what you pick up for me."

"Sure Carlos, just call and let me know what time to expect you. We'll make sure we're back at the hotel so we can all get ready in time."

"OK, let's head over to the hotel now and I'll see if the concierge can make us some reservations at a nice restaurant."

Julie insisted on carrying my bag and I carried the laptop bag as we walked the two short blocks to the hotel. I sent the girls up to the room and went to talk to the concierge. After about 10 minutes, we had reservations at a very exclusive restaurant with a great view of Capitol Hill. I even went all out and ordered a town car to get us there and back. I thanked the concierge and left a nice tip before heading up to the room. I had about 5 minutes to change and get back downstairs to meet the FBI car, so there wasn't much time to share our evening plans. It would just have to be a surprise.

I gave my Babe a quick kiss and wished her a nice afternoon. Julie gave me a huge hug and then we all walked down to the lobby together. As soon as I walked into the lobby, an FBI agent approached me and introduced himself. I turned and looked at my girls and said, "Have fun today ladies. I'll see you soon."

**_Stephanie's POV_**

Julie and I watched as Carlos walked out to the FBI car that was waiting at the front door. I looked down at Julie and said, "Well, let's go ask the woman at the concierge desk where the best places were for shopping. She might be able to give us a hint about where your Papa is going to take us."

Julie grinned and followed me over to the desk. The woman, who was named Debbie, gave us a list of places to go shopping. She also informed me that Carlos had arranged for a car to take us around town. After that, she called the driver and made arrangements for them to pick us up at their earliest convenience. Debbie promised to call us when the car arrived, so Julie and I headed back up to the room to make a list of what we wanted to buy.

At the same time, I called Ella to get the information I needed to buy Carlos some new clothes. Ella told me his sizes and gave me suggestions on where to go. If I went to one particular shop, I could buy a pair of dress pants off the rack and they wouldn't need tailored at all to fit Carlos. She also gave me a few suggestions on other shops for shoes and shirts.

With our list in hand, we went down to meet our driver about 25 minutes later. The driver was an older gentleman who reminded me a little of my dad. He insisted that we call him Stanley and he seemed so excited when we showed him a list of where we wanted to go. Stanley would drop us off right in front of the shopping centre and then we'd call him and he'd pick us up at the same place.

The rest of the day was crazy. We started out getting things for Carlos and then moved on to getting clothes for Julie and I. Julie was feeling a bit overwhelmed at one point because she was carrying all of our bags. I felt guilty so I called Stanley and he came in and took the bags from Julie.

At 4:00, I had to take a break and take some pain meds. My leg was a bit sore and we still had an evening with Carlos to get through. We both bought outfits for that night and I also insisted that we pick up a few essentials for us all. I bought t-shirts for Emma and Diego. I bought a lovely outfit for Lula. I bought several nice dress shirts for Carlos and both Julie and I bought a few pairs of jeans and some cute tops.

Stanley picked us up at 4:30 and we were back at the hotel by 4:45. We had yet to hear from Carlos. He promised to be back in time for dinner, so Julie and I took turns showering and getting ready. I helped Julie with her hair and she helped me with mine. With the aid of the spray Lula bought, Julie was easily able to brush my hair and then help me dry it. Once our hair was finished, we worked on makeup, but we decided to get dressed after Carlos returned. In the meantime, we flipped through the channels on the television and watched something to pass the time.

**_Ranger's POV_**

I was left in a conference room and was joined a few minutes later by three men in suits. "Captain Manoso, thank you so much for coming. I'm Agent Marcus Saunders. With me are Agents Brian Fontaine and Anthony Riviera. We have been assigned the Gina Matthews case and have been working with a Detective Joseph Morelli back in Trenton.

"The reason we called you here is because we need some background on your interactions with Mrs. Matthews once she arrived in the States. We know the circumstances of your first meeting are actually classified, and we've been briefed on that. We just need to know about any encounters you and she may have had since she immigrated."

I thought for a moment and said, "I've only met Mrs. Matthews once. It was at a reception to celebrate General Matthews' time in office. At the time, she was the General's fiancée. I might have shaken her hand, but I didn't speak to her other than your typical 'nice to meet you' greeting."

"OK Captain, how do you think Gina figured out who you were?"

"She recognised one of my men and associated him with the timing of our presence and Escobar's death."

"How did she associate you with that time?"

I thought back to that night and said, "We started talking about several missions, nothing specific. Everything was a generalisation. The one in Columbia came up."

"Do you remember who brought up this topic?"

I thought again and shook my head. "I know it wasn't Santos, me, the General or his fiancée."

"Who else was there?"

"Oh God, I don't remember. There were a lot of people there."

"If you could think about it and let us know, we'd appreciate it."

All three of the men in the room handed me a business card.

"We know Gina was working with somebody, but we can't figure out whom. We're also trying to figure out how she knew to target the General. We don't believe her when she says it was a coincidence."

"Sure. I'll think about it and get back to you."

After a few more questions, Agents Fontaine and Riviera left and Agent Saunders asked if I wanted to talk to Gina again. He offered to let me ask a few targeted questions if I was interested. I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to her, but I was sort of interested in telling her that her attempts to ruin me had failed.

I was taken to the room adjacent to where Gina would be placed for our interview. Once she was seated, I walked in and sat down without saying a word. I decided to wait until she said something before I spoke.

I didn't have to wait long. Gina sneered and said, "What are you going to do now that RangeMan is in shambles?"

I didn't reply. I just stared at her with my blank face.

"No amount of insurance can give your customers their peace of mind back."

Again, I just sat there.

"Come on Manoso, admit it. You're ruined."

It was at that time that I turned my blank face into a slow smile. "I hate to break it to you, but RangeMan is up and running strong. Sure we've had a few setbacks, but we're doing well. In fact, this was great publicity for my firm and we've had more enquiries than we can actually handle at this time. We're improving facilities, adding staff and expanding."

Gina's face fell and then she sneered at me again before saying, "I'm sure it won't last long. I still have someone out there who was just as affected as I was when you killed Enrique."

After hearing that, I simply stood and left the room. I walked into the adjacent room that had a two-way mirror and looked at Agent Saunders. "Captain, do you have any idea who she was talking about?"

I shook my head and said, "No, not at all. Paula and Enrique were only married for 5 years and they had no children. Even if they had, they'd be too young. We should look at Enrique's family to see if he has a brother or a cousin that could be out for revenge. At the time of the mission, our intelligence showed no family at all. It sounds like somebody associated with Escobar is responsible for helping Gina carry out the bombings."

Saunders nodded and said, "We'll get right on it and let you know if we find anything."

I looked down at my watch and saw that it was almost 5PM. Our dinner reservations were at 7 and I still had to get back to the hotel. Saunders must have sensed my desire to leave because he said, "The car is outside waiting to take you back to your hotel. Have a safe trip back to Trenton and we'll be in touch if we find out anything. Please think about your first encounter with Gina and maybe talk with Santos to see if he remembers something."

I walked out and climbed into the car and relaxed as it made its way through the DC rush hour. I called my Babe to tell her I am on my way and she assured me that she'd have everything ready for when I got there. She told me that she had my brand new clothes pressed and cleaned and they were all laid out on the bed waiting for me to put them on. If I was honest with myself, I was a bit worried about what Stephanie had bought for me. I like to wear dark clothes and she knows it. She always tells me that I need more colour in my life. I'm worried that I might show up and find a bright pink or a lime green shirt and tie. Maybe I should stop and get something just in case? I looked down at my watch and decided against it. I'd just have to trust my Babe and hope that I'm not too disappointed by her choice.

I was getting a bit fidgety in the back seat. The driver must have noticed this because he asked if I had plans for the evening. I explained that I had dinner reservations and that time was getting very tight. He did something that I don't think I could have ever predicted. He turned on his siren and put his foot down.

Because the traffic got out of our way, I was back at the hotel just before 6PM. That gave about 15 minutes to get ready because a car would be here at 6:15 to take us to the restaurant. I took the elevator up and my Babe met me at the open door. Neither she nor Julie was dressed, but their hair and makeup was done. I smiled at her and hurried into the bathroom to have a quick shower.

Five minutes later, I walked into the bedroom to find a pair of black dress pants, black socks, black shoes and a navy dress shirt ready and waiting. I dressed quickly and emerged moments later. Both Babe and Julie took this time to get dressed themselves. Julie was wearing a pretty pink floral dress and my Babe was wearing a nice long pistachio green dress that covered her cast, but left her back exposed. I just stood there and stared.

"Papa, we need to go. The car is waiting."

I looked over at Julie to find her on the phone. I hadn't even heard it ring. I watched my Babe put on a light jacket and she handed me a thin leather button up jacket. I looked at the jacket in my hands and was amazed at how light it was. It was a medium brown colour and it was exactly something I'd have picked out if I'd have been shopping. My Babe knew me so well. I put on my new jacket and followed the two women in my life to the elevators.

**_Stephanie's POV_**

When we went down to meet the car, I was expecting the same type of town car that Julie and I had for the day. When I walked out front, my jaw dropped because it was a limousine, not a town car. Stanley was still the driver though.

Both Julie and I greeted Stanley and crawled in the back and Carlos had a quick word with Stanley before he too climbed in. Stanley closed the door and ran around to his side and then we were off. Carlos refused to tell us where we were going. He said that he wanted it to be a surprise. I honestly didn't think it would matter, even if I knew the name of the restaurant. I've never been here before, except for a school trip when I as 12. It's not like I know all the restaurants in Washington.

Carlos sat between Julie and I. Each of us snuggled to his side and he explained what the FBI wanted and how his conversation with Gina went. At first, he was reluctant to share that information in front of Julie, but I encouraged him to keep her in the loop. She was a smart girl, despite the fact that she was barely a teenager.

We both listened as Carlos explained that the FBI was sure that Gina had a partner. They have no idea who it might be so they wanted my opinion. He gave them all of the information he dad and thought that they were a bit disappointed when he was unable to pinpoint their culprit for them. He seemed a bit annoyed with himself so I said, "Maybe you do need to talk to Lester. Maybe the two of you can put your heads together and come up with something you've missed. It's worth a shot Carlos."

"I know Babe. I'm just so tired of this mess already, and it's barely just begun."

I was about to say something in reply to this when Julie said, "Papa, you might be tired, but you're not alone. You don't have to do this alone. You have lots of friends and family who are willing to help. You just have to let us help you."

Carlos looked down at his daughter and I swear, I thought I saw tears in his eyes. It only lasted a minute before he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. "Thanks baby girl. That was exactly what I needed to hear. I'm so glad that you are going to be so nearby. I'm going to love having you around."

Julie smiled that smile that made her look so much like Carlos and said, "I'm glad too. I am going to love getting to know you better and spending time with you and your extended family. That includes the Merry Men."

Carlos looked at me with a raised eyebrow and both Julie and I laughed. "I explained to Julie how I started referring to your RangeMan employees as the Merry Men, and it just sort of stuck in her mind."

Julie chuckled a bit and said, "I can just picture Uncle Tank and Uncle Lester in tights. Perhaps we should have a uniform change?"

Carlos laughed and said, "I don't think we need to put ideas like that in Lester's head. Let's keep that idea to ourselves."

Julie grinned and nodded. She looked across Carlos at me and said, "I'm also glad I'll be able to spend time with you, Mama. I want to meet my new step-grandparents and everything."

Carlos looked over at me and then said to Julie, "Stephanie and I are going to dinner at Steph's parents on Tuesday night. Then we're going to Abuela and Abuelo Manoso on Friday. We thought you might want to join us, but only if you want."

"Are you kidding? Why wouldn't I want to see my family and meet my new family? Of course I want to go. I am excited to meet Mama's family and I can't wait to see Abuela and Abuelo again. It's been a long time."

Carlos smiled at me and pulled the two of us into a hug. He mumbled something that sounded like "What did I do to deserve this much happiness," but I couldn't be sure so I let it go.

Julie was teasing Carlos about his men in tights when Stanley spoke over the intercom. "We're at the restaurant Mr. Manoso. I will stop and then be around to open the door."

Carlos relaxed a little and gathered his jacket and squeezed my hand. Moments later, the car stopped and Stanley was opening the door. Carlos climbed out first and then he helped Julie and then me out of the car.

As soon as we were on the sidewalk, Stanley handed Ranger his card and told him to call when we were ready to leave. He would be 10 minutes or less away. Carlos pocketed the card, took Julie's hand and put his arm around my shoulder and led us into the restaurant.

The restaurant was on the top floor of a high-rise building. We were ushered to our seats near a floor to ceiling window and both Julie and I stared in awe. We had a perfect view of The Capitol, the White House, the Smithsonian and several other touristy things that I'd only ever seen in pictures and on television.

A waiter came in and asked about drinks. Carlos ordered a bottle of champagne for us and a glass of sparkling cider for Julie. He also ordered a pitcher of ice water and a bottle of Perrier. I looked at him and attempted to raise just one eyebrow. Of course that didn't work and Carlos laughed at me, but I wasn't upset. I was determined to figure out how to do that someday, but today wasn't that day.

As soon as the drinks arrived, Carlos poured our champagne and then raised his glass. "To say that I'm the luckiest man on earth right now is a bit of an understatement." He stopped speaking and turned to speak directly to Julie. "Sweetheart, I look forward to spending more time with you and watching you grow into the beautiful woman I know you will become. Having you here with us tonight makes this so much better."

Julie had tears in her eyes and I thought I saw some in Carlos' for a second as well. He then patted Julie's hand and focused his attention on me. "Babe, there are no words that can explain the joy I feel knowing that you are going to be my wife. I can't wait to start our life together and see where life leads us. I never thought of myself as a very eloquent man, but my love for you and Julie seems to have brought it out of me. I love you both with all my heart, and the more time we spend together, the more my love grows." Carlos held up his glass and said, "To us, our family, and whatever life may bring for us."

With that, Carlos took a sip of his champagne, as I struggled to lift my shaking hand to my mouth. Carlos wrapped his hand around mine and helped guide my glass to my mouth. Once I had taken a sip, I looked at Carlos and said, "I like this eloquent version of you, Carlos."

"Me too, Papa. I love you both so much."

All three of us stood and hugged and cried. Yes, I said that right. We all cried from joy. Even Carlos, and for once, he didn't even try to hide the tears that were in his eyes. He looked at me with such love on his face that I doubted anything could ever stand in our way again."

We enjoyed a lovely meal together, and when we were finished, Carlos had Stanley take us on a bit of a sightseeing tour. He drove around for an hour before Carlos noticed that Julie was yawning and struggling to stay awake. He asked Stanley to take us back to our hotel and when we arrived, Carlos gave Stanley a tip that caused the man to object. "It's too much Mr. Manoso. I only did a bit of driving. My fee is sufficient." Carlos insisted and Stanley handed Ranger another card and said if we were ever back in town, he'd be happy to drive us wherever we liked.

We waved at Stanley and made our way up to our room. Once inside, Julie gave us each a hug and went to get ready for bed. She didn't take very long and disappeared quickly. Carlos pulled me into his arms and said, "Let's go to bed Babe. I'm sure we're both tired and need our sleep. Tomorrow might well prove to be a long day. Airports are never much fun."

We crawled into bed a little while later. Carlos pulled me towards him and we managed to sleep wrapped around each other despite my awkward leg and cast. I closed my eyes and said, "Goodnight Carlos. I love you."

I was just about asleep when I heard his reply. "Sleep well Babe. I love you more."

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I will post the next chapter as soon as I can. I can't guarantee my next posts will be as frequent as they have been in the past and I apologise for that. Reviews are always welcome.


	13. Chapter 13

I'm really sorry that there's been a bit of a hiatus on my part for this story. Things have been a bit hectic recently and I wanted to write a bit ahead of what I was posting. Now I'm a few chapters ahead and I feel confident that the story is going in the direction I want.

Here's an extra long chapter for you. Enjoy and thanks for sticking around.

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**_Bobby's POV_**

I knocked on Steph and Ranger's door the next morning around 8:45. We needed to leave for the airport shortly and I hadn't heard from either of them so far today. Ranger came to the door and greeted me and waved me inside. I found both Steph and Julie all packed and ready to go, and in the middle of breakfast. They invited me to join them but I had already eaten with Riley before I left her this morning.

Something must have shown on my face because Ranger came over and said, "What's wrong Bobby? You seem out of sorts this morning."

I grimaced at him and said, "I just had such a nice day yesterday and I was reluctant to leave this morning."

"Did you get some sleep? Do you want me to drive?"

I sighed and said, "I think that might be best. I'm not sure I'm at the top of my game today Boss man."

"No worries Bobby. I can tell that you already miss her. We'll figure something out soon."

I had a momentary glimmer of hope, but the reality of the situation brought me back down to earth pretty quickly. I decided to pass the time by carrying some bags down to the car. Ranger helped and we managed to get everything in a single trip. The only thing left in the room was Steph's purse, and she could easily manage that and her crutches later.

Before heading back up to the room, Ranger checked out and paid the bill. He left a nice tip for the two men who helped with the breakfast at the hospital and promised to drop the keys on the way out. By the time we got back to the room, both Julie and Bomber were ready and waiting to leave. We all piled into the elevator and then rode down in relative silence.

I looked over and noticed that Julie was standing between Ranger and Steph, which caused me concern at first. Maybe Julie wasn't happy about their relationship. Then I noticed that she was holding both of their hands and I breathed a sigh of relief. I don't know why I would have thought that Julie would be upset at Ranger's relationship with Bomber, but I'd seen it before. My own sister's fiancée left her because my nephew didn't like his mother's new beau. It was very hard on her and she was very reluctant to introduce any man she dated to her son for a long while after that. Luckily, she met a man who loved them both and didn't let the initial attitude of the boy to bother him.

When we got to the car, Bomber and Julie climbed into the back and I climbed into the passenger side. Ranger drove and I have to admit, it was a good thing because I actually drifted off to sleep. I didn't wake up again until we were pulling into the car rental return area at the airport. Ranger looked over at me and said, "Get as much rest between now and when we arrive in Trenton as possible. I think we'll all have to hit the ground running once we're home."

I narrowed my eyes and said, "Not you, and not Bomber though. You are both on restricted duties until you are cleared by a doctor."

Ranger sighed and said, "I know. I just can't sit back and do nothing while the rest of you are cleaning up after a mess I caused."

"Come on Ranger, you didn't cause this. You have employed men who are capable of doing the job with our without your presence. You should spend this time getting back to strength and spend this time figuring out where your life goes from here. You have a wedding to plan and a lot of building work to get started. I think that RangeMan can manage without you for the time being. Besides, Tank informs me that you and Bomber will be taking over all new customer and installation requests. It sounds like you are going to be kept busy even though you are supposed to be taking it easy."

Ranger smiled at me and then looked into the rear-view mirror. Apparently I said something that was news to Bomber because she said, "What do you mean Bobby? How can Ranger and I handle new customers? I don't have the training and I'm sure there are a lot of them."

I smiled and said, "Ranger knows his stuff and you will learn quickly enough. The guys in the office and out on patrol are very busy keeping our existing customers happy. They have no time to meet with new people or existing customers to discuss their levels of security. You and Ranger are in a unique position. You can let Tank and the rest of us handle the day-to-day stuff and while you cannot do your physical training, you can still learn genuine skills that will prove useful to the company in the future."

Bomber just said, "Oh" when I finished. She must have accepted my answer because she said nothing as we parked and pulled our luggage out of the car. When the man inspecting our paperwork saw that Stephanie was on crutches, he arranged for a minivan to take us to the departures check-in area. That was a very nice thing for him to do because the walk would surely have taken a long time with Steph's sporadic stride.

We went through security and Ranger had to help Bomber through the metal detector. Of course, the thing went mad, so Ranger produced a folder from the hospital for this exact situation. It explained that Stephanie had metal pins and screws in her leg, so she was escorted to a secluded area where they ran a body scan on her. She joined us moments later once she was given the all-clear and we headed to our gate.

**_Carlos' POV_**

We were sitting in the lobby at the airport, waiting for our flight. Bobby was telling me about the progress of the men that were injured in Boston. Dan Connors has been released from the hospital but needs a few more days before he's back to full strength. As a result, Dan will take over the administrative part of his job and Lester will stay in Boston until Thursday to make sure there is a smooth transition.

I was happy with this particular outcome because as much as I hated Lester's joking attitude sometimes, that was exactly what the men needed right now. Lester had a way of easing tension with a joke that most could not replicate. If Vince and Lester get together, the laughs are unstoppable. I'll have to encourage a bit more fun for the next little while. Goodness knows I'm happier than I've been in a long while, so why not share that joy?

I was smiling and looked over at my Babe. She was talking to Julie and they were both laughing and smiling. I knew how lucky I was to have both of them in my life, but my luck never failed to surprise me. I was considering walking over and taking them both into my arms when my phone rang.

I reached into the inner pocket of my jacket and pulled out my phone. I frowned when I saw the caller ID.

"Captain Manoso, this is Agent Saunders. I'm calling because there is a development in our investigation."

"Go ahead."

"Four bodies were found early this morning. Two were the men who were involved in the kidnapping of Lester Santos. The other two were Black Scorpion employees and we are convinced that they were the ones who were involved with yours and Miss Leblanc's false arrest. It seems to me like somebody is cleaning up loose ends."

I looked around and all eyes were on me. I nodded and said, "I concur. Is there anything that you require from me? I'm just about to board a plane back to Trenton."

"I'm sorry Captain but we need you to identify these bodies. You are the only one other than Fiona LeBlanc who has met them all. We will fly you and your family back to Trenton on an FBI jet later this afternoon. I don't think this will take very long, but it will save you a trip back here in a few days."

"OK. Will you send a car?"

"One will be there momentarily. Your luggage will be collected and we will ensure that it is placed on the plane for your flight later. Just follow the airport staff member who is waiting for you at the lounge exit. They will direct you through the airport and take you and your family to your transport."

"Right. See you shortly."

"Thank you Captain. I am truly sorry for the inconvenience this is going to cause."

I hung up and sighed. "What's wrong Carlos?"

I looked up and saw three sets of eyes looking at me with a curious look. I looked at each of them in turn and then said, "Our flight plans have changed. Instead of taking this commercial flight, we're going to take a private jet later this afternoon."

Julie looked excited at the prospect but both Bobby and my Babe narrowed their eyes. I helped Julie gather her things and led the way to the lounge exit. We were led through a lot of 'Staff Only' doors and emerged in front of the airport to find a large SUV waiting. I helped Julie into the very back, but before Bobby or my Babe climbed in, I pulled them aside and told them what was going on. Babe looked concerned, so I hugged her and pulled her in the SUV with me. I called Tank while we were in the car to notify him of the change of plans. I promised to call when I knew when and where our flight was due to land.

The formal identification of the men in the morgue took about 5 minutes. I confirmed that the first two were Agents Polanski and Williams. They were the ones that kidnapped Lester. The second two men were the ones that locked Fiona and me in that warehouse.

Less than 2 hours later, we were being ushered onto a very nice FBI jet. Julie looked in every compartment in the main cabin and was really excited about her trip on such a fancy plane. She even took Steph's phone and snapped dozens of photos to document the trip.

After we took off, Julie plugged herself into the entertainment system and was occupied for the rest of the flight. Bobby, Babe and I sat at the other end of the plane facing each other and discussed this latest development.

"Ranger, this must mean that Gina has someone on the outside."

I looked at Bobby and said, "Yeah, I think you're right. I just wish I knew who."

Babe looked concerned and asked, "What about Fiona? Could she be in danger? There is only the General, Fiona and Rachel left."

I hadn't really thought about this so I said, "I'm not sure. I'll contact Lester and tell him to be careful. As for the General and Rachel, they're both in custody so they should be safe. Besides, Rachel doesn't know anything. The only link she had to this was through West and now that he's dead, that link is gone and she no longer poses a threat."

Babe sighed and said, "I sure hope so, for her kids' sake."

I pulled my phone out and made three phone calls. The first one was to tell Lester about the four men who were killed and that Fiona needs to take extra precautions. The second call was to the FBI in Miami. I wanted their assurances that Rachel would be protected. When I explained that 4 other men involved were recently murdered, the FBI agent in charge of Rachel agreed to put her in a more secure facility. The third was to Tank to tell him when and where we were landing.

These calls both reassured me and my Babe, but she didn't look very happy. "What's wrong Babe?"

"I'm not sure. I keep thinking about who is helping Gina, but then I think that maybe she's not the one in charge. I mean, she's in jail. Most people who go to the effort of this sort of thing don't usually get caught so easily. What if she's a patsy just like everyone else?"

I sat there stunned for a moment. Bobby also looked a little stunned. I finally said, "I never even thought that Gina wasn't the brains behind this whole situation. God that's a terrifying thought. The person responsible would have to have knowledge of my missions. They'd have to know about the mission in Colombia in particular and they'd have to know about my relationship with the General. I wouldn't even know where to begin with that. I'd have to sit down and discuss it with Tank and Lester before I could come up with a list of names."

Bobby was looking out the window and asked, "Where are we landing Ranger? That looks like Trenton to me."

Before I was even able to reply to Bobby's question, with the voice of the pilot came over the loud speaker. "We'll land at Trenton-Mercer airport in about 10 minutes. Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts."

I fastened my seatbelt, looked back at Julie to find her sound asleep and safely buckled in. My Babe smiled at me and we began our descent. Once on the ground, my stomach did a bit of a flutter. I was nervous and it was silly. I was going to do something completely out of character for me and it scared me more than I'd like to admit.

**Tank's POV**

We watched the plane land and taxi to a stop in front of the terminal building. It didn't take long because this isn't a very large airport. I looked around at the group with me. Every RangeMan employee who wasn't on duty was here. They wanted to welcome Ranger and Stephanie home as much as I did. We didn't have to wait long, and as soon as Ranger saw us, his eyes opened wide in surprise and a smile erupted on his face.

I gave him a quick manly hug and handed him what he had begged me to bring. He took it and placed it in his pocket and then went to tear Stephanie away from the crowd of RangeMan men surrounding her to welcome her home. Steph gave Ranger a funny look but she let him drag her a little ways away from the men. As soon as she was a suitable distance away, he looked her deeply in the eye and then knelt down in front of her.

"Babe, we're not a couple to stick to formality. But in order to share our good news with our friends, I'd like to formally ask you to be my wife."

He held out a box and Stephanie looked at it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Without looking away from his smiling face, Steph knelt down so she was at the same level as Ranger and said, "Of course I'll marry you. There was no need to ask again!"

They hugged each other and then lost themselves in a passionate kiss. No heckling or catcalls brought them out of their own little world. It took Julie's presence to break their lips apart. Instead of standing and looking to us, Ranger and Stephanie pulled Julie down to them and the three of them started laughing and smiling at each other.

They slowly stood because Steph's leg was at an awkward angle. Once she was standing, Lula barrelled over and hugged and congratulated her. Both women had tears in their eyes and I looked on with admiration for two of the best women I've ever know. I caught Ranger's eye and he was grinning so wide that I was worried he would later regret his weakness. Then again, he deserved to be happy.

Before leaving the airport, Ranger made it clear that nobody was to spread the news about his and Stephanie's engagement. They wanted to be the ones to tell people and if it got out before they were even home, they'd lose that chance. All the men and Lula agreed to keep the happy news to themselves. We left the airport after all of the guys were able to congratulate and hug the couple and most headed their separate ways. Lula and I drove Ranger, Steph and Julie to where Ron was staying and Ram followed us. As soon as we got to Ron's Lula and I would leave the SUV for Ranger and we'd get Ram to drop us off at home.

Before Lula moved in with me, I spent very little time at home. Now, it was a retreat every time we were there. I loved seeing Lula's firebird in my garage beside my classic charger. I liked seeing her shoes inside the door and most of all, I loved sharing breakfast with her in the morning. We were still taking things slow, but this meant we could really take our time and get to know one another. We had many in-depth conversations about our families and our childhoods. It turns out that both Lula and I had similar upbringings. That is, until Lula's father left them and her mother had to sell herself to put food, and then drugs on the table. Lula was actually really lucky that she never fell into the same pattern. I guess that says a lot about her. She avoided drugs at all costs. She even helped her friends kick the habit when necessary.

At one point, the subject of us having a family came up. Both Lula and I had issues with being a parent, but it wasn't a lack of love. I didn't think my genes were something that I wanted to pass on. I was always teased about my size as a kid, and even now, people never look past that to the man behind the muscles. Lula on the other hand, was probably not able to have children because of what that monster Ramirez did to her a few years ago. She seemed OK with that fact saying, "It's probably a good thing that I can't be a mother. Any child of mine would have to endure taunts about having an ex-Ho as a mother. That wouldn't be pleasant."

I hugged her close and said, "You've got enough love to give, I'm sure we can find an outlet for that love."

She smiled at me and every time she smiles at me now, I think my heart skips a beat. I know how much I love her and I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I just need to figure out a way to convince her that she's enough for me. I don't need children. I just need her.

I was dragged from my thoughts when I heard Steph ask Lula about her training. Lula sounded proud when she said, "We've taken to running outdoors. I'm up to three miles now without any problems. After that, we slow down and walk for a bit and then I can job another two miles. I'm hoping to be able to run 5 miles without the break before the month is out."

I smiled and said, "We've also worked out a deal with a local gym. They open at 7AM and we've convinced them to let us have access to their facilities from 5 to 7AM. During that time, we can do weight training and if the weather is bad, we can use the treadmills as needed."

Stephanie seemed surprised by this. "I guess my physical training is going to have to take a bit of a break. By the time I get this cast off, you'll be able to out run and out lift me Lula. It will be good motivation to try and catch up. That is, as long as you're patient with me."

Lula smiled and said, "Of course I'll be patient. I'm sure you'll get back to fitness soon enough though."

Lula and Stephanie stopped talking as soon as we pulled off the road. Steph looked around and saw a long driveway and a house at the end. We parked and everyone climbed out of the car. Lula and I greeted Ron, Emma and Diego and then left in the car that Ram was driving. I looked back and wasn't at all surprised to see Emma hug Ranger and then Stephanie. I smiled at Lula and sighed at with content at having the Boss back.

**_Carlos' POV_**

I saw the door open before we were even out of the car. Emma and Diego came running out and then stopped when Ron called them back. I had to stifle a smile because Ron was taking some of my advice to heart. I told him that not many people knew where he and his family were, but that doesn't mean that he can trust every person or vehicle that comes to his door. He needs to be wary and be aware of anything out of the ordinary. He kept his kids close until he knew who we were.

As soon as he saw me, he released his kids and let them come to us. Julie was the first to receive a hug and then little Emma came over and gave both Stephanie and me a hug. "Papi Carlos, I'm glad you brought Julie home. We've missed her a lot."

"I couldn't keep her away forever. She missed you guys as well."

I looked over at Julie and she was smiling as she hugged Ron. He looked relieved to see her. I shook hands with Diego and then walked over to Ron. We also shook hands and once Julie was dragged inside by Emma, Ron looked at me and said, "It's good to see you up and about Carlos. Why don't you and Stephanie come in and have a cup of coffee. I can show you the plan changes I have for Boston. They will be filed tomorrow as is, but we can make tweaks after that."

I looked over at my Babe. She had overhead the request and nodded her head to indicate that this would be a good idea. I smiled and agreed, following Ron and Stephanie inside. Stephanie was dragged into the bedrooms by the kids and I was left alone with Ron. He put on a fresh pot of coffee and then pulled out some plans and laid them out on the table. At a quick glance, he had incorporated every change and recommendation I had made. He also took it upon himself to come up with a layout for the one floor that was still undecided. I had to admit that he did a great job.

He added a conference room that had more of a theatre layout in it. He put that on one of the lower floors so if we brought in customers or outsiders to that room, it would be isolated from the main working areas of the rest of RangeMan. I really liked the idea and gave it my full approval. I also mentioned that I wanted something like that in the Trenton office, but outside of the secure part of the building.

Ron took notes and we progressed through each floor. I told him that Dan and his new 2nd in command would be given the apartments on the top floor. As a result, I wanted them to have input on anything structural in those apartments. Ron agreed and said, that he was thinking of heading up there soon. I told him to talk to Tank and he'd help him make arrangements to meet with the lawyers, builders and any other people that were necessary. He was welcome to come into the RangeMan offices in Trenton at any time.

"I'm sure Ella would be happy to keep your kids for you during your meetings in Trenton. Stephanie and I would also be happy to have them visit us when you're in Boston. We'll be staying at my parent's house out in Point Pleasant. They don't use it as much as they used to, so we're taking it until we can both go back to work full-time or find something a little closer to Trenton."

Ron looked at me in surprise. He smiled and then said, "Thanks Carlos. I might just take you up on that. I was trying to figure out if I wanted to leave the kids here with Ella or take them with me to Boston. The Boston option would be difficult on my own and if I go on my own, things can happen a lot faster because I won't have to schedule meetings around my kids."

I could understand where he was coming from. He was worried about his kids and he also wanted to do a good job with these buildings. I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Despite how it happened, we're family Ron. I will treat your kids no different than Julie."

"That means a lot to me. If I can be honest with you Carlos, I was really afraid that you'd fight me for Julie. I guess on some level, I still am."

I nodded and said, "I don't see the point in fighting you for her. She's happy with you and she loves you and her brother and sister. I know she loves me and I know that she wants to spend more time with me and Stephanie, but she'll always want you there when she goes home."

"That's reassuring. I filed for divorce this morning. Once it goes through, I will lose my legal rights as a father to Julie."

"How about we draw up new papers Ron? A form of joint custody that you, me and Julie can all accept?"

"I'll think about that Carlos. I have a feeling that Rachel will contest the divorce, so it might take a while."

I handed him a business card and said, "This is the RangeMan law firm. All employees have access to them and they offer great rates for our employees. Please feel free to use one of these lawyers but don't feel obligated if you think there's a conflict of interest."

Ron pocketed the card and thanked me before returning to his drawings. He pointed out how one conference room could be divided into 4 smaller meeting rooms using moving panels. I liked the idea and told him to keep it in the plans. The rest of the floor was pretty open plan for the moment, with the exception of the small kitchen and dining area on the main floor. The monitoring room and control room were on a different floor as we discussed the last time. In general, I was happy with the plans. I told Ron this and it meant that we had no structural changes to make at this time.

After Ron put the plans for the Boston building away, he pulled out his laptop and showed me the survey plans of the land I owned. He showed me the different locations where the house could be built and suggested two different locations. One was nearer the main road, meaning a larger back yard. The other was further in, meaning more privacy and a larger front yard.

I looked at the land and said, "Can you place both together? I'd like to see what it would look like with two houses on the land. I'm assuming that there's plenty of space, right?"

Ron nodded and after a few quick clicks of his mouse, two houses were placed on the screen. I looked at them for a few minutes and then said, "Can you rotate the one closest to the road be about 30° clockwise?"

Ron did as I asked and then looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I smiled and said, "I don't know what your long-term plans are Ron, but would you consider building two houses on this land and living in one yourself? There is plenty of room for you and your kids to have all the privacy you need and we're near enough that we can help you as much as you want. It would be safe, there's a great school less than a mile from here and you wouldn't ever have to worry about me taking Julie away from you."

Ron's face showed several emotions in quick succession. I saw shock, confusion, curiosity, apprehension and acceptance among others. He looked at me and said, "What if we decided to move after a little while. I'm sure you wouldn't want that house occupied by strangers."

"That's easy. I'd buy it from you and I'd use it as a guest house or perhaps for a live-in housekeeper."

"What do you mean buy it from me? Won't it be your house?"

"Well Ron, I've been thinking. What if the house was your payment for designing my house and managing its construction? You would have two houses instead of one to add to your portfolio."

"Why on earth are you being so generous with me Carlos? I don't understand."

"It's as simple as this Ron. If you're happy, my daughter is happy. If you are nearby, she's nearby. It's a win-win situation for me and your family. If you do decide to move away, I'll still consider this a worthy investment. Anything that makes our kids happy is a worthy investment in my opinion."

"Can I think about it for a little while?"

"Sure Ron. If you have any questions about salary or anything else, let me know. Think of it as an opportunity to build your dream house and to experiment. I'll give you 6 weeks to decide. Once Steph's casts come off, we'll probably want to start laying foundations and such. Hopefully before then we can come up with the plans for our house. Stephanie and I need to sit down and make a few decisions about what we want in a house though."

"I will talk to the kids and see what they want to do. I know what Julie will want, but I have to consider my other kids as well. In the past, through no fault of your own, Emma and Diego tended to think that you would one day take Julie away. Rachel probably instilled his fear in them so I can't blame you or them for this. I do however, need to ensure that they are going to be happy living so close to you and Stephanie."

"I understand Ron. Take your time and maybe the kids will feel more comfortable around us if we spend more time together. You can come out with the kids during the week if you want. You can see where they'd stay when you're up in Boston and they can see what time with us would be like."

"OK. I was thinking of heading up to Boston on Thursday. We can come out Wednesday and spend the day with you. I understand that Julie will be going to Steph's parents for dinner on Tuesday evening, so we can finalise plans when you drop her off that night."

"Sure Ron. Wednesday sounds good. Oh, there's some news that you may or may not know about. Stephanie has agreed to marry me. She has asked Julie to be one of her maids of honour."

Ron grinned and said, "It's about time my friend. You two really are perfect together. I wish you all the best."

Ron surprised me with a warm hug and I was also surprised that it didn't bother me. We heard the kids approaching and Emma came in and almost bowled Ron over when she jumped into his arms. She said, "Daddy, did you know that Papi Carlos and Steffie are getting married? She says that I can be a flower girl and that Diego can be a ring bear."

Ron smiled and said, "Don't you mean that Diego will be a ring bearer?"

Emma's smile faltered and she said, "Oh, I thought he got to dress up as a bear. What's a bear-er?"

Ron patiently explained that "The ring bearer was responsible for getting the wedding rings to the front of the church. Usually, they are tied to a pillow or carried in a dish or something."

"That sounds like a really important job. Did you hear that Diego?"

Emma squirmed and Ron put her down as she ran to find her brother. I turned to my Babe and she grinned. "I guess our small wedding is turning out to be a bit bigger than we originally planned."

"Whatever you want Babe. We can have the biggest wedding in the world for all I care, just as long as you are my wife when it's over."

She smiled at me and said, "Good to know. Good to know."

Ron looked at us and said, "Who wants coffee and cookies?"

I laughed when my Babe light up at the sound of cookies. Ron told the kids that they were coming for a visit on Wednesday. They all seemed excited and by the time we were leaving, Diego was asking whether or not he needed to bring his bathing suit. I thought about it and said, "You can bring them but I can't guarantee that the weather will cooperate or that it will be warm enough to go in the sea. If not, we have a hot tub at the house so maybe we can make use of that."

Diego seemed content with that plan and shook my hand when I left. I chucked at this and looked over his head at Ron. He was smiling as well. Both Emma and Julie hugged me and then they hugged Stephanie. We waved goodbye and Ron promised to call if he had any questions or problems.

Once we were on the road, Stephanie turned to me and said, "I hope you are OK with Emma and Diego being in the wedding."

"Of course I'm OK Babe. They're great kids. Who else are you going to ask to stand up with you? You have a lot of friends."

"I am not sure yet. I originally just thought Val and Julie, but I know Lula, Mary Lou and Connie will be disappointed that they're left out. I didn't want a big wedding, but now I'm having second thoughts."

"Hmm. Maybe we should consider something a little bigger then. There's also Angie and Mary Alice and I have loads of nieces and nephews."

"Yikes, this might just turn into a big wedding after all."

"I'm sure it will be fine. If you did ask Val, Mary Lou, Lula, Connie and Julie, that's 5 bridesmaids. I'd have to decide on my 5, but that's pretty easy. I'd ask Tank, Lester, Bobby, my brother and Ron."

"Wow, that's a lot of people. Maybe we should think about it a bit more. I could get away with just Val and Julie, but I don't see how you'd decide between yours if you had to."

"It wouldn't be that hard Babe. Tank will be my best man, no matter how many men are involved. The 2nd would either be my brother or Ron. I couldn't choose between Bobby and Lester. It wouldn't be fair to them."

"OK, for now, let's just stick to two each. I'll talk to Lula, Mary Lou and Connie to find out how they'll feel if they're left out. If necessary, we can add another few people to stand up for us."

"That work for me Babe. If the Burg wedding of the century is what it takes to make you Stephanie Michelle Manoso, they that's just what we'll do."

My Babe blushed at that and said, "I had a big wedding when I married the Dick, so I never really thought I'd want one again. Any time the subject of marrying Joe came up, Joe and my mother would go on and on about a big wedding and I always said that I wanted to elope. Now that I am marrying you, I actually want the wedding. I want to shout it from the rooftops that I am going to marry you Carlos."

"I feel the same way Babe. When I first thought about asking you to marry me, I thought I'd want to elope. Now that you've agreed, I want the wedding. I eloped with Rachel, so I think my parents will actually appreciate a proper wedding this time around. In fact, I think I'll appreciate a proper wedding this time around. You mean the world to me Babe. I don't have a problem with shouting that from the rooftops either Babe."

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Another chapter will be posted within the next few days. Reviews welcome.


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks for hanging in there and waiting a bit longer for my updates. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

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**_Stephanie's POV_**

All this talk of a big wedding made me actually want just that. I was surprised to hear Carlos tell me that he also wanted a big wedding, but the words he said actually made me tear up. "Why did we wait this long Carlos? Why did we fight it for so long?"

He laughed and said, "I'm a moron, that's why Babe."

"No, it wasn't just you. I was also a bit of a moron. I kept going back to a destructive relationship. Even though you pushed me away, I should have fought for us."

I watched as Carlos smiled sadly and said, "I don't think we should dwell on the wasted time. I think we should focus on the future, and speaking of the future, we're here."

I looked in the direction he was pointing and my jaw dropped. The only thing visible in front of us was a huge house up on a cliff, overlooking the sea. Whenever Carlos referred to this, he called it a cottage or beach house, I never once pictured something like this. I turned and looked at Carlos and said, "That is some beach house."

He grinned and said, "I know. All us kids chipped in and bought it for our parent's 40th wedding anniversary. They don't get to use it as much as they'd like, but they do spend a lot of time here over the summer."

Carlos parked inside a two-car garage and then grabbed our bags and led me into the house. The first thing I noticed upon walking in the door was a huge black and white photograph of the entire Manoso family. I recognised Carlos' parents from when I met them the time Carlos was shot and Julie had been kidnapped. I also recognised his sister Celia. Carlos was there and he was even smiling, although he wasn't looking directly into the camera like the rest of his family. He was looking at Julie instead.

"That's a wonderful portrait Carlos. You all look so happy in the picture."

"We were happy. That was the only time after her kidnapping that Rachel allowed Julie to come visit. Julie wasn't allowed to stay with me at RangeMan, but Rachel said she could stay with my parents. In the end, I took the week off and we stayed here with my parents."

"I'm so glad she's in Trenton now. Rachel can't really interfere from where she is."

"No, not really. Ron filed for divorce today. He expects Rachel to contest, but she won't have much say from behind bars."

"Wow. I wasn't sure if he was going to bother. It's in his best interest when it comes to Julie not to get a divorce."

"I know what you mean Babe. I think Ron had similar misgivings, but I explained to him that we could come up with new legal papers that let him retain his rights and my visitation rights. He said that while he and the kids remain in Trenton, there's no need for that kind of thing. If he ever decides to leave town, then we'd have to get something drawn up that we can both agree on."

"I suppose now that Ron has decided on a divorce, he can move one. Maybe he can meet someone new and get on with his life."

"Yeah, that would be nice. Now, let me show you around."

I followed Carlos around the house. There was a large kitchen and a dining room. There was a large living room with a desk at one end of the room and a large TV and seating area at the other end of the room. Behind the living room, a bedroom had the same view as the living room, out over the sea. This bedroom had an ensuite bathroom and a large closet. Next to the bedroom was a large library with two desks.

Up a small set of stairs brought us to another 3 bedrooms and a family bathroom. One of the bedrooms had its own ensuite bathroom and the other two rooms would share the family bathroom. For a holiday home, it was pretty decent.

I followed Carlos down to the living room and then down another flight of stairs. In the basement, there was a laundry room, some storage and a door out to a patio area out back. Carlos led me outside and pointed to a staircase. I looked at it and looked down. The stairs were fitted to the stone cliff and went down to the beach. Carlos also pointed something else out to me. It looked like a rope. He grinned when I asked him about it.

"It's for abseiling down the cliff if you don't want o climb down the stairs. My brother and I installed it the weekend my parents first came here. We were impatient to climb down the stairs after the slower women and kids so we thought this might be quicker. It was quicker, but only on the way down. We still had to climb up the stairs and walk behind the slowpokes."

I laughed at this and said, "Well, I don't anticipate climbing down anytime soon."

"Don't worry Babe. If you want to go down to the beach, I'll take you down by car or carry you."

"Thanks Carlos, but I think trying to wash sand out of my cast would be an unpleasant task. I think it might be best to avoid the beach until my cast comes off."

"Yeah, you might be right, Babe. Come on back inside. We'll see what Ella has left for us and then we can come back out and have dinner on the patio if you want."

I smiled and nodded as I hobbled back into the kitchen. Carlos rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a platter filled with various cheeses, cold cuts, fruit and spreads. He also grabbed a bottle of wine, two glasses and a basket of bread rolls. I looked at him balancing everything and wondered how he didn't drop something as I followed behind.

After a basic meal and some nice conversation, Carlos and I sat side-by-side and watched the sun go down. He wrapped his arms around me when the wind picked up and then when it got too cold to sit outside, we moved indoors and finished watching the sunset on the sofa.

Once it became dark in the house, Carlos lit a few candles rather than turn on the lights. We then sat there and talked about a lot of different things. We talked about the house we would build. We talked about our wedding and we talked about how our families would react to our wedding plans.

I was pretty sure that my mother would try to take over and plan everything. I would have to explain my wishes with her and Carlos' mother to make sure that the day stayed about us and our wishes. I was a little more confident than usual when I explained this to Carlos.

After a bit of discussion, we decided that we would each have 5 people stand up for us. There were 5 very special women in my life and Ranger had the same amount of men, so it worked out well. I just had to figure out a way to get in touch with Mary Lou and Connie before the news hit the Burg grapevine.

Carlos suggested that we ask my family to give us 2 hours after we left on Tuesday night before they could call and tell people. This should give us enough time to visit both Connie and Mary Lou. If possible, I'd contact them ahead of time and get them to meet us somewhere. That way the news could get out even quicker.

Around 11PM, I started to yawn. Carlos took a look at his watch and said, "Let's head to bed Babe. I have to go into town and meet Morelli tomorrow and I'm sure you'll want to visit with the guys in the office and go see your family or something."

"Yeah, I think I'll go into the office while you're at the station. I don't really want to visit my family until Tuesday. I don't want to give my mother too much time to start her wedding planning. I want the news to be out before I put a hold on her plans. I'd like to avoid that for just one more day."

"OK Babe. I'll go to the office with you and then leave you there with the guys. I'll come back after meeting with Morelli and then we can have a leisurely afternoon."

"I like the sound of that. Maybe you can call your friend tomorrow and figure out when his resort is available for the engagement party. Maybe if we like it, we can try and have the wedding there as well."

"OK. I'll call him in the morning and if he's got the time, we can go there for dinner tomorrow night and have a look around."

As I drifted off to sleep that night, I had a thought about the perfect colour of bridesmaids' dresses. I just hope I remember it in the morning.

**_Carlos' POV_**

Babe and I took our time the following morning. While Babe was showering, I called my friend Robert out at Chimney Rock Park. He listed off a few dates that could work and I made arrangements for my Babe and me to have dinner there tonight.

We ended up arriving in Trenton around 1PM. Stephanie and I went to see the new RangeMan offices and we were greeted with a lot of hugs and congratulatory remarks. At 1:30, I left Steph with the guys and headed over to the police station to meet with Morelli.

I walked into the station and was greeted by various people that I knew. It was obvious to me that my men and Morelli had kept their word and kept our secret. Nobody offered their congratulations or made any remarks. This made me smile. I knocked on Joe's door and heard a mumbled command to enter. I opened the door and at once could tell that something was wrong. Joe looked up at me and stood to shake my hand. "Hi Ranger. Thanks for coming."

"It's not a problem Joe, but please call me Carlos when it's not RangeMan business."

"Oh right, sorry Carlos, I forgot. Things have been a little hectic today."

"What's up? Is it related to my case?"

"Yes it is. Those four bodies in Washington caused a few problems. There seems to be a lot of paperwork involved for me even though I am not in Washington or have anything to do with the investigation. I guess it's just part of the whole liaison role. Speaking of which, I have some questions that I'm sure you've answered a dozen times already, but I need that information in my reports."

"Go ahead."

Joe ran through his questions and it turned out that I had indeed answered those same questions a few times before. It was more of a formality, and he wasn't too bothered when I didn't go into too much detail. We had finished the questions when Joe asked me about Steph and my engagement. "I haven't heard any rumours about your engagement. I'm guessing you haven't told Steph's family just yet."

"Well, Frank and Ellen know, but we're going there for dinner tomorrow night and will tell the rest of them. Immediately after dinner, we'll tell Connie and Mary Lou. The rest of the town can find out via the usual way. We will make sure that we tell the people that matter most to us ahead of time."

"Kudos to you in convincing Ellen Plum to keep her mouth shut. How did you manage that?"

I laughed and said, "I promised to let her and my mother plan our engagement party. Steph and I have selected the location, but we'll leave everything else up to our mothers. We're hoping this will keep them out of the wedding plans so we can have what we want and not what our mothers want."

"Well, if anyone is able to stand up to Ellen, I'm sure it will be you. She practically had a whole wedding planned when Steph and I were engaged. She was very pushy and sort of forced things on us that neither of us wanted, including the wedding itself."

"I'll keep that in mind. I think both our families will back off if we threaten to elope. Maybe I'll give Ellen some isolated projects that don't mean all that much to us."

Joe nodded and said, "That's a great idea. She'll go overboard, but as long as it's not something either of you care about too much, it won't matter in the long run."

Joe and I continued to have a pleasant chat about my plans to build a new office building on the site of the old one on Haywood. He was even making a few recommendations on the non-secure area, which he was sure to visit on occasion. I welcomed his input and actually made a few notes. We were wrapping up our conversation when Joe's desk phone rang. He answered and then looked up at me.

"No, he's actually here now. Why don't I put you on speaker and you can fill him in now."

I raised my eyebrow and Joe just nodded toward the phone. "Detective, Captain, I have some more news. Somebody got to both the General and Gina inside federal custody in D.C. Gina was killed by another female inmate and the General is in critical condition after being pushed down a flight of stairs. We're not sure what exactly happened there."

I looked at Joe, who was a bit pale and said, "It appears that Gina did not have a partner after all. Maybe she was simply a pawn in this whole thing."

"I agree Captain. We would like to move Mrs. Martine to a more secure facility and we would recommend that the rest of her family and Miss LeBlanc be placed under our protection as well."

I shook my head and was about to say something when Joe spoke up. "I think that RangeMan is in a much better position to protect the Martines' and Fiona LeBlanc. Transporting Rachel might also be just what the person behind all this wants. I would recommend against moving her unless absolutely necessary."

Agent Saunders sighed and said, "I can contract out the protection for Miss LeBlanc and the Martines' to RangeMan at our usual rates. Unfortunately, the order to move Rachel Martine has already been carried out. She is currently on her way to a different prison."

I swore and said, "It sounds like you have an inside man. How else could somebody get to the General and Gina?"

"I don't know Captain. I assure you that we are looking into every person who has entered the detention facility and try to find a common link. We will keep you in the loop. In fact, we may contract your company to do some of the background research on these people. You tend to find information that we miss."

I smiled and said, "That's all down to two of our newest employees, Stephanie Plum and Lula. They manage to find links between information that others overlook."

"Is Miss Plum going to be up to doing work? I know her injuries were extensive."

"I think she'll be willing to help here. Also, being side-lined due to her injuries isn't something she copes with well. Feeling useful will probably be a blessing to her."

"OK, we'll run down a list of names and then get a contract faxed over to you so Miss Plum and this Lula person can get started. I'll be in contact soon."

Saunders paused for a moment and then said, "Detective, I will be in touch soon if we need anything or have any other information to share. Goodbye gentlemen."

Joe and I sat there staring at the phone that was now just emitting a dial tone. Joe hung up and looked up at me and said, "If I were you Carlos, I'd heighten security at all RangeMan buildings and high profile customers. If you need assistance, I'm sure some of the off-duty officers would be willing to help out."

"That's a great idea Joe. We have a budget set aside to hire some contract workers, and hiring some of Trenton's finest would eliminate a lot of the usual background checks."

"I just meant volunteers Carlos. I don't think they'll expect to get paid."

"I know Joe, but legally, if we pay them as contractors, they'll be covered under our full insurance if something happens. I would be better if something were to happen. If you could spread the word, I'll provide pizza and beer on Thursday night at Pino's for any officer who is interested in working part-time for RangeMan. I will have paperwork available to show them our rates and our benefits to contract workers that they can take home and consider. My only requirement is that these officers must have worked for at least two years here in the Trenton PD. They will all undergo a background check run by RangeMan before they are accepted."

Joe nodded and then I said one more thing, "Scheduling will be done in a way that no PD contractor will be allowed to work two 8 hour shifts in a row. It's not safe and I will not put any RangeMan employee or contractor in that kind of danger. Because of this, any shift working officers may be restricted to days off or shorter shifts with RangeMan."

Joe nodded again and said, "I'm sure any volunteers will be fine with that. I'll spread the word about Pino's and I'll be there myself to offer my support."

We shook hands and I was just about to open the door when Joe asked, "Is she really as good as you say?"

I raised an eyebrow because I wasn't 100% sure who Joe was talking about. "Stephanie. You said that she has a knack for finding information from searches that others overlook."

"Oh yeah, she really is that good. So is Lula. Between the two of them, they found Lester and then me. If it wasn't for their quick thinking, I'd probably not be standing here today. I don't understand exactly how she does it, but she does it. I'll see you Joe. Call me if you need anything or something relating this case comes up."

I left the station and thought about what it would mean to hire some of the men we work alongside on a regular basis. They respect us at the moment because we provide a service to them. If they worked with us, they would have a much better understanding of what we do. This could work in our favour. We could eliminate the thug persona once and for all that exists in the police department. It's improved over the years, but there are still some holdouts.

A majority of people in the community still see us as mercenaries, and I suppose that is technically correct for some of us, but a mercenary typically has no loyalties, except to the money. Most of my men were in one of the branches of the US military. Several of us did missions for money, but those missions were only ever for our own government. I know I have received some pretty significant sums for some pretty dangerous missions. I sometimes still have nightmares about those missions, but they have eased over time.

I parked in a public parking lot across from our new office and slowly made my way upstairs. I didn't want to admit it even to myself, but I was sore. My back muscles were not used to this much movement and I was hoping that my Babe had some pain meds in her purse.

I walked into the RangeMan offices and as soon as I entered, I requested that Tank, Bobby and Hal join me. We all squished ourselves into Tank's office and I explained what was going on. Everyone was shocked to hear that Gina was dead and that the General was injured. I had to agree. I was in shock as well. I explained that we'd be sent a list of people to investigate and then moved on to the idea of getting off-duty police officers to help us out.

Tank agreed that hiring some volunteers was a quick and easy way of supplementing our staff. He also has a list of a dozen people that he is looking into hiring. Background searches were already underway. I never doubted his ability to have my back or do what was best for RangeMan.

We also agreed to put a 2-man team on Ron and the kids. If Ron went somewhere without the kids, at least one man would travel with Ron and at least two would stay with the kids. We also conferenced Lester and Fiona in on the call and explained what was going on to them. Fiona agreed to stick with Lester and return to Trenton on Thursday when Lester comes home. Lester agreed to come to Pino's when they got back. In fact, I invited all RangeMan personnel to Pino's. I also promised that those who were on shift and unable to attend would be able to attend the next one. We would start having more of these staff and community related events so RangeMan and its employees could better integrate with the people in this town. It would be good publicity and it would help soften our image.

The guys liked the idea and we agreed to do it every other month. The venue would change each time and the guys already had a few suggestions. Bobby's idea to host it at the hospital as sort of a charity event was popular. Hal suggested a RangeMan sponsored softball tournament followed by a BBQ. Suggestions of picnics, ground-breaking ceremonies, charity events and other things left us with loads of ideas.

The guys suggested that we put Ella and Luis in charge of organising these events. Tank mentioned that they were going a bit stir crazy. They still come and do a bit of cleaning at the new offices, but there wasn't that much needed because of its small space. I agreed that Ella could take over this task. I was confident that she'd do a great job and she might even have some other ideas.

I said goodbye to the guys after I was given an update. I told Tank that he needed to stay in charge and then went to look for my Babe.

**_Ron's POV_**

I could hear the kids in the other rooms. They were very excited because Ella just turned up with a bunch of stuff. RangeMan arranged for the contents of the kids' rooms to be packed up and shipped up here. She arrived about 20 minutes ago with several RangeMan men and a big delivery truck. The kids were just so excited.

Carlos mentioned that he would do this, but with all the other things that were going on, I assumed it had slipped his mind. I should never doubt that man. When he says he'll do something, he does it. There were also a few boxes of my belongings. I could tell that whoever packed them took their time and did a great job. I laughed at the thought of RangeMan branching out into a moving company.

"What's so funny Dad?"

I looked up to see Julie staring at me with a concerned look on her face. "Oh, hi there sweetheart. I was just looking in this box and noticed how well the contents were packed. I had a momentary thought about RangeMan branching out and starting a moving company."

Julie laughed and said, "I think you should make that comment to Papa and see what he think. I bet if you time it right, you can get him to snort his drink."

I hugged Julie and then continued to unpack the items in my boxes. Julie watched me for a little bit and then asked, "Are you hungry Dad? Ella has made us some lunch."

I looked up and noticed that it was lunch time. I nodded and put the book I was unpacking into a shelf in my room and then followed Julie into the kitchen. We sat down and I invited both Ella and Luis to take a break from their unpacking and join us. We all sat together at the large dining room table and Emma spent about 15 whole minutes telling Ella all about all of her favourite foods. Ella took that on board and asked Diego about his favourite foods and then she repeated the same questions for Julie and me. By the time we were done our lunch, Ella had planned two weeks of our favourite foods.

Julie looked at Ella and said, "No wonder Papa and Mama love to have you around."

Ella looked a bit confused so I said, "Steph and Carlos."

Ella nodded and smiled. She then stood and started to clear the table. Without asking, all three kids stood and followed suit. I carried my plate into the kitchen and within a few minutes, everything was cleared away and clean. Luis spent that time carrying in the last few boxes from the front porch. Once all the boxes were inside, Ella and Luis headed back to their place. Ella was just about to exit the door when Diego ran up and asked, "Can we have some cake tonight Ella? Steffie says you make the best cake."

Ella smiled at him and said, "Of course kiddo. What kind of cake would you like?"

"Steffie says that your chocolate fudge cake is to die for. I don't want to die, but I wouldn't mind trying some."

Ella agreed to make Diego a cake and headed out the door. She barely closed it when she opened it again and stood aside as 4 RangeMan men walked in. Ella and Luis came back in and we all stood around staring at each other. Julie was the first to say something. "Dad, I'm going to take Emma and Diego out back to play."

The kids disappeared out the back door and then one of the men introduced himself and the rest of the men. "Ron, my name is Hal. Ranger has asked us to set up a protection schedule for you and your kids."

I knew Ranger wouldn't do this unless something had happened. "What's changed? Is there news?"

Hal nodded and explained the situation. He said that Rachel has been moved to a more secure location and that the kids and I would have a RangeMan shadow until things calmed down. I wasn't too bothered by this, but mainly because most of our time is spent at home. Any travelling I need to do will be on RangeMan business, so a shadow won't really be out of line.

Hal explained that three teams would take turns protecting us. Hal would work with Junior and they were taking the first shift. Binkie and Ram would turn up after 8 hours and then Woody and Zip would follow them. If I had to travel out of town, Vince would accompany me so the other teams could stay with the kids. This reassured me that my kids would be safe if I was away. Carlos really was taking the safety of my family seriously and I was grateful. I think if this happened a year ago, I might not be so tolerant of Ranger's security imposition. Mind you, a year ago, I was happily married and the relationship between Rachel and Ranger was a little strained. Now, the relationship between Rachel and I was over and the friendship between Carlos and I has solidified.

We introduced the kids to the men and they went outside to play with the kids for a little while, leaving Hal and I inside to go over some of the security features of the safe house. After all the doors and windows were connected to the alarm system and the cameras were hooked up, everyone but Hal and Junior left. The guys helped the kids with their unpacking and they even played with them outside so I could get some work done. It was kind of like having two supersized nannies around. I wasn't going to knock it because the kids seemed to love them and Carlos never would have sent them here if it wasn't a precaution worth taking.

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Hey, I'm hoping my next update will be a little more timely than the past 2. Thanks for sticking in there. More will follow as the story unfolds.


	15. Chapter 15

Thanks for your patience. As usual, these are not my characters.

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**_Stephanie's POV_**

I was getting a bit sore from sitting with my leg in the same position for so long, but I was getting something accomplished. I had been given a huge pile of new requests and I was slowly going through them and dividing them into two categories, new customers and existing customers wanting an upgrade or additional services. It looked like Carlos and I had a lot of work cut out for us.

Speaking of Carlos, I felt a tingle on the back of my neck. I knew he was close, so I stood and stretched a little before I saw him walk into the room. He spotted me and walked over and said, "Babe."

"Carlos."

"Do you have any pain meds Babe? My back is a bit sore and if I don't take something now, I'll not be fit to drive later and we have an appointment with my friend at Chimney Rock Park later this afternoon."

"Sure."

I rummaged through my bag and produced a bottle of extra-strength ibuprofen. I popped open the lid, took two pills and then handed the bottle to Carlos. He looked around and I handed him a bottle of water. He gratefully accepted it and then took the pills. I took the bottle back, took a sip and then threw the pills into my mouth and swallowed.

Carlos looked at me and said, "Let's get out of here Babe. We're supposed to meet Robert in two hours."

I nodded and gathered my things. I took the huge pile of requests that we had and stuffed them into a big folder that barely fit into my purse. Carlos looked at me funny and I explained that these were the requests that have come in ever since the bombings. I laughed when his surprised expression surveyed the stack of papers in the folder. "I know what you're thinking and we definitely have our work cut out for us. We'll be on light duty, but this will keep us occupied."

Carlos wrapped his arms around me and said, "That's good news. Is Lula around? I have another project that I need you and her to work on that will be higher priority than the customer requests."

I pointed down the hall and Carlos turned to see that Lula was on the phone. He walked over to her and once she hung up, he requested for her to join us. Lula sat on the edge of my desk and I sat in my chair while Ranger stood.

"Ladies, the FBI is going to be sending us a list of people that will require a thorough background check. There has been an attack on the General that has left him in a coma at the FBI facility. A coordinated attack was also made on Gina. She wasn't so lucky. The FBI now feels that Gina was just a pawn and that RangeMan has to be on high alert. They suspect that there is somebody on the inside, but they have no idea who. I want you two ladies to work together to try and come up with a connection with the list of suspects provided by the FBI and me, RangeMan, the General, Gina or any other connection you can come up with."

My heart sank and I said, "What about Rachel? Is she in danger?"

"I hope not. The FBI decided to move her to a more secluded facility. Hopefully that will ensure her safety."

Lula nodded and said, "When the list if sent through, I can bring it and some equipment out to the house in Point Pleasant. That way we can work together and you can also relax a little."

Carlos smiled and said, "That's a great idea. Thanks Lula. While you two ladies are working on that, I'll get a head start on the customer requests and some other things we have up in the air."

I looked at Lula and said, "You know what else we can do while you're there? We can look at bridesmaid dresses. I'm hoping that you'll stand up with me."

Lula squealed. It was the first time that I heard that sound out of her in months. She sort of lost it when she lost her wardrobe, but it didn't really bother me. In fact, it made me grin. She smiled at me and then at Carlos and said, "It would be my pleasure and my honour."

"Great. Once I inform the others, I'll set up a dinner or something and we can discuss dresses on a more formal level."

"Others? How many others? I thought you guys wanted a small wedding."

Both Carlos and I laughed. Carlos looked at me and said, "We need to leave in 15 minutes. I'll come back when we need to leave so you girls can talk."

I smiled as Carlos walked away and returned my focus on Lula. I grinned sheepishly and said, "Well, we talked about having a small wedding, but then we both realised that we had to limit ourselves to two people each and I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. We discussed it and in the end, we both decided that a big wedding is actually something we both can get behind. The only thing is that if it's going to be big, we want it to be big on our terms. Our parents are going to have to back off and let us do the planning. They can help with small things, but Carlos and I want to do this for ourselves."

"Wow Steph, I'm happy for you guys. I'm sure whatever you plan will be spectacular. Who do I get to share the honour with?"

"I have already asked Julie. Val will be my maid of honour. That leaves you, Connie and Mary Lou. The five of us are like sisters, so I couldn't imagine doing this without you."

"What about Ranger?"

"Tank will be his best man. He's also going to have Lester, Bobby, his brother and Ron. As far as I'm aware, he hasn't asked any of them yet, but I'm sure they'll be happy enough with the task."

Lula frowned a bit and then asked, "What about Joe? Have you guys told him yet?"

"Yeah, and he wished us well. It seems like Joe and I will be able to stay friends. He and Carlos are also making an effort to be friendlier with each other. We'll see how things go in the future."

I looked up and saw Carlos walking towards us. He smiled and I nodded. I hugged Lula and told her to call me when the faxes from the FBI come through. I waved at the guys and Carlos and I rode down the elevator together. He wrapped his arm around me and said, "Robert has a few dates for our party. We just have to decide how soon we want this all to happen. He also said that there are a few free dates for weddings, but they're in September. That's not very far away and it might be hard to plan a whole wedding in that time."

"Let's go there and see what the place is like before we decide. I'm sure a wedding can be planned in 3 months, but it may mean that we have to delegate certain things to our mothers. We can give them strict guidelines though."

Carlos laughed as we climbed into the car. He kept checking his mirrors and was making random turns. At first, I thought we might have been followed, but the assured me that he was just making sure that there was no tail. When he was satisfied that we were alone, we headed out of town and made our way north on State Road 206. We arrived at the park around 3:30. When we parked in front of the hotel, Robert came out to greet us.

"Carlos, it's been a long while since we saw each other."

Robert turned to me and then he said, "You're obviously doing well Carlos or this beauty would never have agreed to marry you."

I must have blushed because Carlos wrapped his arm around my shoulder and said, "I'm doing well Rob. This is Stephanie."

Rob held out his hand and I shook it. He didn't actually let go and led me inside the hotel to show us the ballroom where we would have our party. He saved the best for last. The ballroom actually had a door that opened if the weather was fine. The guests could flow out into the garden where more tables could be set up. I looked at the spectacular view and asked, "What dates do you have available?"

Rob pulled out the planner and said, "There is an opening in three weeks on a Friday evening. There are no other parties planned that evening, so you will have exclusive access to the garden."

Carlos looked at me with that eyebrow and I smiled. He looked back at Rob and said, "We'll take it."

Rob and Carlos moved off to make more formal arrangements and I called my mother.

"Hi Mom, I have some news."

"Is it about your party?"

"How did you know?"

"It was just a guess."

"The party will be at the Chimney Rock Park hotel and it will be three weeks from this Friday. We will bring all of the options with us tomorrow night so that you can start planning. Carlos' mother Maria will also want to help, as will Ella."

"Wow, that's not a lot of time. Can they cater on site?"

"I'm not sure Mom. As I said, we'll bring all the pamphlets and everything with us tomorrow night."

"OK. I'll look up a few things about the place and figure out our half of the guest list. I'll try to include as many of your friends as possible. You may wish to add additional ones. What's the limit?"

"There is capacity for up to 500 people, but I hope we don't go anywhere near that."

"Wow, that's a large capacity. I doubt we'll do more than ½ of that, unless Maria has more than 125 guests that she wants to invite. I guess it is possible."

"Mom, I want our friends and family to be invited. I don't want gossip queens or busy bodies who have no actual connection to us to be invited. This is not a show."

"Don't worry dear. I'll let you have final say over the invite list. You can cross off any names that you don't want to include."

"Thanks Mom. I will see you tomorrow night."

I hung up and went back to join Carlos and Rob. They were talking about wedding options. As I walked over, Carlos held his hand out to me and I took it as he pulled me towards him and put his arm around my waist, holding me close.

"Babe, Rob says that there is an opening on the last weekend in September. That gives us three full months to plan the wedding. Do you think this is long enough for you?"

I shrugged and asked Rob a few questions. Could we have the actual wedding ceremony here? Could we have the ceremony outdoors? Are we obligated to use their catering services? Are there any other restrictions?

Rob answered all my questions and then he left Carlos and me to discuss our own thoughts. Carlos looked at me and said, "Babe, what do you think about having a non-religious ceremony outdoors? I know we're both from very Catholic families, but neither of us is really practicing Catholics. We've also both been divorced and I kind of like the idea of an outdoor ceremony."

"I think that sounds like a good idea. I know my mother won't like it, but I'd prefer not to be married by a priest. I always feel guilty in their presence."

"OK Babe, I guess all we have to do is decide on who we want to marry us and then do a bit of planning."

We walked around the grounds and I had to admit, the views were beautiful. I could picture where we'd take our wedding photos. I could picture where we'd set up the chairs and where Carlos and I would stand to exchange our vows. I looked up at Carlos, we was also looking around and said, "I think we can make the end of September work. It will be a lot of work and we'll have to rely on our parents for a few things, but I am not sure I want to wait much longer."

"OK Babe, we'll take the booking and then we can start making some basic plans. Let's go get something to eat and we can make a list while we're eating."

Carlos and I found Rob and he led us into the hotel dining room. He handed me a huge packet for the engagement party and an even larger packet for the wedding. We invited Rob to join us for a drink and he sat and gave us a few suggestions about various different people who could perform the ceremony. He disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a few additional pieces of paper. These contained lists of Judges, Justices of the Peace and other certified wedding celebrants who could perform our ceremony.

Rob stuck around for a drink, but as soon as he was done, he made excuses and headed back to his regular duties. That left Carlos and I to go through the packets. I looked at the two packets and said, "What do you think about leaving everything about the engagement party to our parents? I think we should give them a reasonable budget and then let them figure out how they want to spend it."

"That's a good idea. Do you have any idea what you want to wear for the wedding?"

"No, I haven't really thought about it, but I know what colour I want the girls to wear. I want the bridesmaids to wear a dusty purple and I want the flower girls to wear cream dresses with the same purple as accents on the dresses. I would like the guys to wear charcoal instead of black because I think that will match the purple better. I don't think they guys need to wear ties or waistcoats in purple, but I'd like it to match."

Carlos smiled and said, "I like the sound of that Babe. Did you know that purple is Julie's favourite colour?"

I shook my head and said, "No, I had no idea. I guess I'll have to start looking for a dress very soon. We'll also have to get the guys in for a fitting as soon as possible and you'll have to decide what you want to wear."

"You're right Babe. I'll talk to everyone after we've notified our families and then get them to our tailor. We'll have to get the suits made. There's no way Tank would be able to hire a suit. We'll need to give the tailor as much time as possible."

"Yikes, this is starting to get scary. I will call the girls and try to get them to meet me next Wednesday. I want to have a swatch of our dress fabric that you can take to the tailor to ensure that the suits will match the dresses."

"It'll be OK Babe. Our tailor will easily be able to get our suits ready in time. How about the guys wear a normal suit and I wear one with tails?"

I grinned and said, "If that's what you want Carlos, I'm fine with it."

I flipped through the linens that could be hired and pointed out one that would work with our colour scheme. Carlos agreed with it so I marked it and moved on to the table service. We quickly agreed on white china plates with sliver rims. We decided to let Carlos' mother select the glassware and my mother to select the silverware.

"What about flowers Babe? Do you have any specific preferences?"

I thought for a moment and said, "Well, I think some lavender bunches will look nice on the tables. If we tied lavender around a candle holder, it would spread the scent around the room. Those could be the centre pieces on the tables. As for the wedding itself, I think cream coloured roses and a purple flower such as roses, lilacs, hyacinth or hydrangea would be pretty. The purple flower just needs to be something to match the dresses."

"How about this Babe. Let's put your mother in charge of the centre pieces and my mother can be in charge of the bridal flowers for the wedding. We'll give them guidelines and then we can let them worry about choosing the right purple flower. Ella can be in charge of the flowers for the men and our mothers."

"That sounds perfect. I have another idea. We can let our dads be involved as well. Your dad can be in charge of transport for the men and my dad can be in charge of transport of the ladies. I'm sure my Dad will want to borrow some classic cars from his friend, and he'd love to drive one as well."

Carlos took my hand and smiled. "Do you realise that we've just planned most of our wedding in less than an hour? What's left?"

My stomach growled and both Carlos and I laughed. "The menu choices are pretty extensive. Rob said that we could come back with our families and they can make one of each menu option so we could do a little taste test. We can also mix and match the various parts of the course to come up with something that suits everyone."

We took a break from planning and ordered our food. While we were waiting, Carlos brought up a touchy subject. "What about the cake Babe? Do you think you could let someone else be in charge of the cake?"

I shook my head and said, "No. If it's the only thing I do myself, I'm going to be in charge of the cake. If my mother had her way, the cake would be boring vanilla because it's plain and simple. I want our wedding cake to reflect us. I want it to have different flavours and I want it to be something to remember."

Carlos grinned and said, "I figured you'd say that. I'll leave that up to you. What about invitations?"

"I have no preference there. Although, if we could tie our colour theme into them, that would be good. We seem to have a charcoal grey, silver and dusty purple thing going on. Maybe we could find something along those lines. I could explain what we want and let Ella run with it. She usually does a good job coming through on things like that."

Our food arrived moments later. As soon as I took a bite of the chicken, I completely forgot about the wedding plans. It was delicious and probably the best chicken I have ever had in my life. That includes all of the roasts made by my mother and the chicken breasts cooked by Ella. I looked up at Carlos and he was grinning. "Let's add that chicken to the list of possible food for the wedding. It sounds like you are enjoying it."

"Oh my god Carlos, this is so good. You have to try this."

I held a piece of chicken with a bit of the sauce up for Carlos and he wrapped his lips around the fork and its contents. As he chewed, his eyes went wide. "You're right Babe. That is delicious. I will strongly recommend this chicken for either the wedding or the engagement party."

Carlos looked around and caught the eye of the waiter, who came to our table. "Please give the chef our compliments on this chicken. It is truly spectacular."

The waiter nodded his head and scurried off to talk to the chef. Moments later, a man dressed all in white came out to our table. Carlos' eyes opened wide and he grinned as he stood and shook Rob's hand. "You didn't tell me that you were the chef here."

"I'm a man of many hats around here. I'm glad you like the food."

I smiled up at him and said, "Is this chicken dish part of the wedding menu? If not, can it be part of it?"

Rob thought for a moment and said, "It is not part of the menu because I don't do the wedding catering, but I can probably teach the caterers how to make it if you really want it."

Carlos looked between me and Rob and then asked, "If we make reservations for 8 people a week from Friday, would you be able to make that chicken dish again? We were thinking of bringing our parents and some friends to try out the wedding menus."

"Sure. I am the chef here when there is no wedding or other venue on. I will get the caterer to come herself that night as well so you can ask her any questions. There's a huge booklet with photos of all the things she can prepare. We just ask that you call a few days in advance and that you restrict your choice to 10 meals. If you want to mix-and-match, that's fine as well. We will prepare 10 starters and 10 main courses plus the chicken you like so much."

"That sounds good. We'll take a look at all of the options and get back to you as soon as possible."

Rob left us and we finished our meal. Afterwards, we wandered outside in the garden and watched the sun set. It was a beautiful sight. Carlos wrapped his arm around my shoulder as I hobbled on one crutch with my cast. I have gotten quite used to manoeuvring with my cast and the crutches, but leaning against Carlos was more fun.

He led me back inside once the sun was set and paid our bill. He exchanged a few words with Rob and we walked out to the car and drove back to the beach house. The drive took about an hour and of course, we talked about the wedding and after calling Connie and Mary Lou to arrange for them to meet us the following night, I fell asleep. We arrived home around 8 and I went straight to the shower and crawled into bed with the wedding folder.

I pulled out the catering booklet and looked through the various options. The food looked and sounded amazing. I could hardly wait to go and try it out the following Friday. Carlos joined me in bed after his shower and we both marked a few things we definitely wanted to try. I turned my nose up at the Steak Tartar and the Carpaccio starter options, but Carlos insisted that it was worth a try. You just had to forget that it was raw meat.

We each chose 10 items for the main course in order of preference. When we shared our choices, they were a complete overlap. They were in a different order, but they were mostly the same. We refined the list a little more and reduced the final number to 6 different options, two of which were vegetarian.

As for the starters, this was a bit more difficult. Carlos kind of wanted a few Cuban things and I wanted a few traditional things from my family as well. In the end, we decided to discuss the food more in the morning. We were both yawning and tomorrow would be a long day. Lula would be over to work on our searches for the FBI and then Carlos and I had to go to dinner with my parents. Immediately after dinner, I had to meet Mary Lou and Connie at Pino's for a drink, and then drive back to the beach house.

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More to come...


	16. Chapter 16

Again, the characters aren't mine. I hope you enjoy this one.. it's a bit longer than previous chapters.

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**_Lula's POV_**

Tank and I arrived at the office around 7:30 this morning. My first stop was the fax machine to see if the FBI had faxed us the list of names they wanted us to investigate. Not only did they send us a list, they also send a contract that both Stephanie and I had to sign and then fax back. I took the contract and knocked on Tank's door. He yelled for me to come in, so I opened the door.

He looked up from his desk and smiled. "What's up?"

"This fax came in from the FBI. I figured you'd want to look it over before we started the search. Neither Steph nor I have done one of these contracts for the FBI before, so I just wanted to make sure that we weren't getting ourselves into something that could bite us on the ass somewhere down the line."

Tank held out his hand and I gave him the papers. He read through them and then handed them back. "This is the standard RangeMan contract with the FBI. Ranger or I sign it off but you and Steph have to add your signatures as well because you'll be doing the actual work. This is common practice for these sorts of contracts."

"OK. I will gather all the necessary things we need and head over to Point Pleasant."

"Before you do that, come in and close the door for a moment."

I looked at Tank and closed the door. I was expecting a lecture of some sort, so I was pleasantly surprised when he stood and pulled me into a hug. "Please be careful Lula. We're just starting out and I'd hate to lose you."

"Don't worry Sugar, I'll be dressed and I'll take a circuitous route, just like you taught me. I will come back here if I think I'm being followed and I'll call you as well."

"OK. Let me know when you get there and when you are about to head back."

Tank hugged me again and then kissed me gently before I left his office.

I walked back to my desk that I was currently sharing with Brett. He looked up at me and sighed with such relief when he realised that I was packing up to go. He saw the surprised look on my face at his reaction and he seemed embarrassed. "I'm sorry Lula, I'm not glad that you're leaving so much as glad to have a bit of space. This place is a bit cramped if you know what I mean."

"No worries big guy. You'll probably have the desk to yourself for the foreseeable future. I'm going to be working with Steph on a project. I'm going to work out at their house so she can stay relatively close to home."

Brett smiled at me and said, "Let me know if you need a hand with anything. I'd love to get out to Point Pleasant."

"You'll be the first I call if we need more manpower out there. Talk to you soon."

I grabbed my laptop bag that was filled with my laptop, a spare laptop and the paperwork that was faxed over by the FBI. I went into the hardware room and picked up a printer and the necessary power and USB cables from a pile and headed down to the car. Once loaded, I sped off towards the old Haywood location. This gave me the perfect opportunity to turn around in a bit of a circle and to see if I was being followed.

I couldn't see a tail after I passed the clean-up efforts of the old building and headed towards the freeway. At the last minute, I cut across traffic as safely as possible and exited onto the freeway. I pulled into a service station part way there and once again, I came out tail free. I was confident that I wasn't being followed so I followed protocol and gave Ranger a heads' up that I was on my way.

I called Tank as well to let him know that everything was going well and turned up my music and enjoyed the ride. Music was one thing that Tank didn't approve of. He felt that it interfered with my alertness but I disagreed. I felt more alive and alert when there was something in the car that had a bit of a beat. I could time my mirror checks to the beat and I wouldn't forget like I did in a quiet car.

About ½ ways to Point Pleasant, I spotted a car that looked like it might be following me. To rule it out, I took the next exit. Sure enough, the car followed me. I pulled into a restaurant and watched the car sail past. After a few minutes, I pulled back out and rejoined the highway. The same car was nowhere to be found. I breathed a sigh of relief at the false alarm and continued on my journey.

I kept looking for that car or any other car that seemed to be ever present, either in front or behind me. When I took my exit off the freeway, instead of heading straight towards the house, I took a more scenic route. There were two good reasons for this. The first was purely selfish. I wanted to see the beach and the promenade. The second was to ensure one final time that I wasn't being followed.

I pulled out my phone one last time and called Ranger. "I'm minutes away Boss. I'm pretty sure that I've not been followed. I probably drove 40 extra miles just to get here to make sure."

I could hear Ranger laugh before saying, "OK, see you soon Lula."

Of course, he hung up without saying goodbye, but I was used to this now. Practically every RangeMan employee did it. Only Steph and I used things like manners. With one last look in my mirrors, I pulled into the driveway of the beach house. Ranger was expecting me so the garage door was open and I pulled in and turned off the car. The door closed automatically behind me and both Steph and Ranger were at the door to greet me.

I smiled as I walked towards them with the printer and my bag. Ranger tried to take the printer from me but I said, "Back off mister. You're still recovering from surgery and I'm more than capable of lifting this here printer. Just tell me where to put it down and you can relax a little while us girls get some work done."

Ranger grinned at this and led the way into a room that had walls covered with bookshelves. I looked around and placed the printer where Ranger indicated. There was plenty of room in here. There were two desks pushed together, one with a laptop already set up. I looked over at Stephanie and she said, "I've already set up my stuff over there. I left you the desk that faces the ocean since I get to see that view any time I want. You can have the desk with a view."

I smiled my thanks at Stephanie and set up my laptop. I didn't worry about the printer just yet because we wouldn't need it for a few hours at least. I then pulled out the paperwork from the FBI and handed it to Ranger. He reviewed it, signed it and handed it back to me for my signature. I signed it and then handed it to Stephanie for the same reason. She looked up at Ranger and asked, "Why does this have my name on it and why do I have to sign it?"

"RangeMan was contracted by the FBI to perform these searches. You and Lula are the ones authorised to perform those searches."

"Does this mean that we cannot discuss the results with anyone?"

"Yes and no Babe. You can share the results with Me, Tank and the rest of the core team, but nobody else. Once the results are in, the rest of the team will hear about any actions we take, they just don't get to hear about how we knew to take those actions. It's common for an FBI contract to be compartmentalised like that."

Steph nodded and signed her name before handing the paper back to me. I then looked around and asked, "Do you have a fax machine here? I never thought to bring one or to check beforehand."

Ranger shook his head and walked over to the table and took a photo of the document. He then pressed a few buttons on his screen and said, "I just sent a photo of the document to our FBI contact. That should suffice until we send him the original in the post."

Next, I pulled out a fax that had a list of 30 names on it. I laid it across the edge of the desk and carefully ripped it in half. I gave Stephanie the top half and I took the bottom half. Ranger stood in the doorway and asked, "Can you give me an estimate on how long these searches will take?"

I looked at Steph and we both thought for a moment. If each search took two hours, that was a full week's worth of work. With four computers, we would be able to run four searches concurrently. That meant that 30 searches would probably take at least 2 days. I looked at Ranger and said, "The searches can be run and the results reviewed in say 3 or 4 days." I looked at Steph and she nodded in agreement.

Ranger nodded and said, "Before I leave you to it, would either of you like a coffee or something before you get started?"

Both Steph and I said, "Black with milk, no sugar." almost in stereo. Ranger laughed and said, "Since when do you either of you take no sugar in your coffee?"

I laughed and said, "Steph and I had coffee at the office when Lester was missing. There was no sugar available so we just had it white. It turns out that we both like it without the sugar just as much as with. Since sugar is counterproductive to our diet, we'll go with no sugar."

Ranger looked at us with his blank face, said, "Works for me," and disappeared from view. He returned a few minutes later with 2 mugs and then left us to work on our searches.

**_Carlos' POV_**

While Babe and Lula were busy in the other room, I pulled out my phone and started to go through the list of customer requests. Babe had already separated the customer requests into new customers and existing customers. I figured that I could call our existing customers first and assure them that we would get to them as soon as possible.

I moved over to the sofa and made myself comfortable before pulling out the list and starting to make phone calls. I ended up leaving messages for some and talking to others. The ones that were available explained that they were very happy with RangeMan and they were very impressed with how we reacted to our troubles. As a result, they wanted to re-evaluate their security requirements and improve where it was needed.

Stephanie was using my laptop for searches, so I didn't have my calendar handy. As a result, I had to rely on an old-fashioned paper calendar to make the appointments with our customers. At most, I'd book one appointment in the morning and another in the evening. When was done booking appointments with existing customers, I came to a very obvious conclusion.

Stephanie and I were going to need to look for a place closer to Trenton. Point Pleasant is a lovely place but it's just too far out of town. With that thought in mind, I called my real estate agent and asked for her to find a 4 bedroom house somewhere in Trenton that we could rent in the short term. She promised to look around and get back to me with some possibilities via email.

I looked up at the clock and was surprised that it was already 12:45. I hadn't heard either Lula or Stephanie so I walked towards the library to see how they were getting on. I walked in the door and said, "How about a break for lunch ladies?"

They both looked up at me and then towards the clock on the wall. I guess neither of them noticed the time pass because they stood, stretched and made their way out into the kitchen. "Thanks Ranger, my back was beginning to seize up in there. I am not used to sitting for so long at a single time."

I looked over at Lula and said, "I know what you mean. I spent the entire morning on the phone. Steph and I are going to be extremely busy in the coming weeks with new accounts and upgrades."

Stephanie looked at me and said, "How busy? Is living way out here going to cause a problem?"

I smiled and said, "I think so. As much as I like it here, I think we need to move back to Trenton. I called my real estate agent and asked her to look around for something to tide us over for a while."

"Oh good. As much as I like it out here, I don't like the drive back and forth. It takes a lot out of me and I'm sure it does you too."

I nodded at my Babe and reached into the fridge to pull out some sandwich ingredients. I laid the cold cuts, lettuce, bread and other ingredients on the workbench and said, "Help yourself ladies."

I stood back and watched as both Stephanie and Lula made sandwiches and hurried back into the library. I thought it would be better if they took a break, but I wasn't going to argue with them while they were on a roll. I made my own sandwich and returned to the lounge where I reviewed the list of potential new customers and highlighted those that I wanted to run a search on before I bothered to talk to them. Some names I recognised and others I didn't.

If there was a customer that I knew well enough to forgo the typical search, I would mark them and I'd call them after lunch. I wanted to check in with Tank, Lester and the other offices before I committed to any new customers.

"Hey Tank."

"Boss, how goes it?"

"Lula and Steph are in the other room doing what they do so well. They will probably take a few days to finish. I just thought I'd check in to see how things were going."

"We keep getting new customers calling and enquiring about our services. A majority of recent requests are for home security systems. That type of system doesn't tend to bring in a lot of money for RangeMan, but the sheer number of requests could add up to a lot of money."

I thought for a moment and said, "Set those requests aside for now. You should see about hiring a few people to deal with the domestic systems specifically. For now, Stephanie and I will focus on the corporate customers only. If we get through them before you are able to hire someone, we'll take some on."

Tank agreed to this and then said, "You won't guess who's on the list."

I thought for a moment and then said, "Frank Plum or Joe Morelli."

"Geez, how'd you guess? In fact, they're both on the list. So is most of the Trenton PD."

"Hmm, maybe we should come up with some sort of self-install system where we provide the hardware, the instructions and then let them to the installation themselves. What do you think?"

"I'll get right on that. I'll get Hector to put together 4 plans and then get Bobby to translate the instructions. Do you have anyone in mind to act as a guinea pig?"

"I'll ask on Thursday night for four volunteers to get a discounted system. They'll have to review the instructions and provide feedback once it's installed. I'm sure somebody will jump at the chance for a cheap security system for their home. Please ask Hector to bulk order the parts for each of the four systems. Anything that we don't end up using for a customer can be used for safe houses."

Tank seemed to like my idea and commented on how the image of RangeMan was changing in the community. He mentioned that Cal and Bobby were stopped while out on patrol by a woman who asked if she could hire them. She had a stalker and the police could do nothing to help her. Bobby called in and explained the situation. They were relieved and then Cal and Bobby went to confront the stalker. He pulled a gun on them and they subdued him. When they brought the stalker into the police station, they found out that there were 3 outstanding arrest warrants out-of-state for this guy. The woman was a professional decorator and has volunteered to decorate the RangeMan offices free-of-charge.

I was surprised by this and asked for the woman's details. I wanted to call her and hire her. I didn't want her to do anything for RangeMan free-of-charge. I might let her talk me into a discount for her fee, but I would insist on paying her something. Tank relayed the woman's information and I was shocked. The name was familiar to me. Brigitte Travis was not only an interior decorator. She was also a fashion designer. A quite famous fashion designer at that. I thanked Tank and hung up.

I'm not much into fashion, but I've heard the name from time to time. She specialised mostly in gowns for Hollywood fashion events, so having a building's interiors designed by her would actually be pretty cool. Then, an idea struck me. I dialled the phone number Tank had just given me and waited for an answer. Unfortunately, I got her voicemail. I left her a message telling her that I was the RangeMan CEO and I wanted to discuss an upcoming event that I hoped she could help with.

After hanging up the phone, I looked at the list of new potential customers again. There were only 4 on the list that I was willing to talk to without the background check. This was because I'd dealt with three of them before and the 4th backed out on a deal with us a few months ago because they hit a bit of a financial snag.

I called each of them and made appointments in the following weeks for Stephanie and I. I looked up at the clock and saw that it was now 3:30. The afternoon practically flew by. If Stephanie and I were going to make it into Trenton by 6PM, we'd have to get a move on.

I stuck my phone in my pocket and headed for the library. I walked in and found Lula and Steph in exactly the same positions they were in last time. I cleared my throat causing both of them to look my way. "Ladies, I hate to break up this search-fest, but Steph and I have plans this evening and if we aren't on the road within the hour, we're going to be late for dinner at her parents. We also have to stop and pick up Julie on the way."

Babe looked at the clock and started to panic. With her leg in a cast, it took her twice as long as usual to shower. I smiled at her and said, "It's OK Babe, there's enough time if we start getting ready now."

Lula looked between us and said, "Do you mind if I stick around until you're ready to leave? I have one last search running and then I can call it quits for the day."

Both Steph and I shook our heads. Steph said, "I have one in progress as well. It should ping when it's done. If mine finishes before yours, feel free to print it out for me. We can start at 9:30 tomorrow and while our first searches are running, we can review the print outs from today."

Lula nodded and returned to her search as I helped my Babe out of her chair and up the stairs. She was down to a single crutch whenever I was around. I think she just liked to lean on me, but I wasn't complaining. I liked feeling useful. We went upstairs and I helped my Babe wrap her cast and shower.

After the shower, Steph sprayed her new detangles spray on her hair and let it air dry after brushing it through. Or that's what I thought she was going to do. She surprised me by putting a bit of gel in it and getting out this contraption that looked and sounded a lot like a blow-dryer. It only took her a few minutes, but the effect was quite stunning. She had loose curls but they weren't too wild. I asked about the contraption and she giggle. "It's my normal hair dryer. It just has a diffuser on the end. It helps me dry my hair without it getting too frizzy."

We were both limited on clothes since we lost most of ours in the explosions, so I ended up wearing the same thing that I wore in D.C. when we went out to dinner. Steph wore a nice skirt and blouse that she bought in D.C. as well. She looked fabulous.

**_Stephanie's POV_**

Carlos and I made it downstairs by 4:30. When we walked into the library, Lula was putting her laptop into her bag and cleaning up the piles of printouts we made. She turned as we walked into the room and said, "I'm off now. I'll be back around 9:30 in the morning. I still have my 6AM workout to get through and then the drive out here. If I'm running late I'll let you know. As usual, I'll call when I'm close so you know to expect me."

Carlos walked over and hugged Lula and said, "Thanks Lula. You've been wonderful and we'll see you tomorrow."

I also hugged Lula and then we all piled into our cars after Carlos set the security alarm. Once we were on the road, Carlos turned to me and asked, "Did you have a productive day Babe?"

I nodded and said, Between Lula and I, we managed to finish 15 of the 30 searches. We should finish the rest tomorrow and then we can start looking at the data and try to pick out anything important. How about you? What did you get up to?"

"Well, I made a lot of appointments. I've limited it to two per day. I scheduled one in the morning and another in the afternoon over the next few weeks. We'll be running around a lot but I don't think we'll be run off our feet. I also told you that I called my real estate agent. I should hear from her in the next couple of days so we can look at moving closer to Trenton. This commute would kill me if I had to do it every day. After lunch, I called a few of the new customers and then talked to Tank about a few things."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Maybe. It seems that there has been a huge influx of requests from home owners about getting domestic security systems. RangeMan doesn't usually deal in basic installations like that, but I don't want to turn it down outright. I suggested that we offer packages for self install to home owners and Tank liked the idea. We are going to trial it to see how things get on and then if it's successful, we can move on from there. It might be an excellent market for RangeMan to delve into."

"What kind of people asked for this? Was it all mobsters and criminals?"

"Actually, the majority of people are well respected members of Trenton society. Two people on the list might surprise you. Joe called as did your father." I sat there with my mouth open for a few seconds and then asked, "My father? Why wouldn't he just come out and ask?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to get special treatment because I'm going to be his son-in-law. Who knows? You can ask him when we get there if you'd like."

Carlos reached out and grabbed my hand and raised it to his lips. He kissed it twice and was forced to let go when his phone rang. I watched as he lifted it to my ear and answered. I only heard ½ the conversation, so it wasn't very informative.

"No, I was actually hoping to talk to you about your other services."

"Yes, that's right."

"No, nothing has been decided as of yet, but there are ideas. I can call you later and give you more information."

"Saturday would be perfect. Do you know Pino's? Two PM. Thank you. We'll see you then."

I narrowed my eyes and looked over at a grinning Carlos. "What was that all about?"

"It's a surprise Babe. It's a surprise that I'm sure you're going to love. At 2 PM on Saturday afternoon, our wedding party needs to join us at Pino's. We can arrive earlier and have lunch, but a special guest is going to join us at 2 o'clock."

I looked at him and decided to let him have his secret. Normally, I would nag and nag and try to get to the bottom of the surprise. For some reason, it didn't bother me this time to wait. I think it was because there is so much going on right now that I wouldn't really have time to dwell on it. That and I trusted Carlos.

The trip to Trenton went by quickly enough, but Carlos didn't take the most obvious exit to get to Ron's. I looked around and then at Carlos to see him checking his mirrors every few seconds. I was about to ask him if we were being followed when he said, "I am just trying to make sure that we were not followed. I don't want to let anyone know where Ron and the kids are living."

I nodded as we drove into the neighbourhood of the safe house and pulled to a stop in front of the house. Zip stepped out the front door and relaxed when he saw Carlos climb out of the car. Carlos helped me out with my crutches and Zip walked beside us while looking around the neighbourhood, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

As soon as we walked in the house, Emma came running and practically jumped into Carlos' arms. He looked a bit surprised, but he grinned when Emma said, "Hi Papi Carlos."

Julie came in wearing her new pink dress and she was closely followed by Diego and Ron, who walked over and gave me a hug and shook hands with Carlos. "Papa, do you have time to sit down before we go for dinner?"

Carlos looked down at Julie and said, "Unfortunately not Julie. Steph's mother doesn't like it much when people are later for dinner. We'll have plenty of time tomorrow to sit down and talk when you come to the beach."

"Yay, the Beach. I can't wait. Will we be able to swim Papi Carlos?"

Carlos nodded and said, "Your Dad and I can take you down to the beach. Stephanie can't join us because of her cast, but that's OK. She has some work to do anyway."

Diego looked a bit disappointed when he heard that I wouldn't join them at the beach, so I tried to smooth things over by saying, "I'll be up at the house getting things ready for a BBQ while you're all down at the beach. Tank and Lula will join us for the BBQ as well."

Mentioning Lula made Diego smile. While he was distracted with his thoughts of Lula, we said goodbye to Ron and the kids and headed over to my parents. We arrived about 5 minutes before 6 which was just enough time to get in the door and be ordered to sit down. Val, Albert and their three kids were happy to see us. Grandma Mazur was happier to see Carlos than she was to see me. I introduced my family to Julie and everyone welcomed her. Mary Alice and Angie looked at her with curiosity, but they were all a bit shy.

Throughout the meal, everyone referred to Carlos as Ranger and we didn't correct them until we were having coffee after dessert. I looked up when Val asked Ranger how things were getting on with RangeMan after all the trouble. Carlos looked at me and winked, so I said, "Actually, RangeMan is doing well. We have a bit of an announcement. The first thing is that Ranger would like it if you would all start to call him Carlos."

Grandma Mazur looked a bit confused and asked, "Why?"

Carlos was the one that continued. "Well, Ranger is a nickname that I use for work. My friends and family all call me Carlos."

Val, Albert and Grandma Mazur were all looking at us with dumbfounded faces. They didn't understand. I was just about to lay things out for them when Grandma Mazur's face showed recognition. She looked closer at my hand and exclaimed, "Oh my god. You're engaged."

This caused both Val and Albert to whip their heads back at us as both Carlos and I nodded. Val squealed and scared Lisa, who started to cry. She rushed over to me and hugged me and then hurried back to comfort her youngest daughter.

Grandma Mazur was grinning at the end of the table. She slowly made her way over and hugged me and then Carlos. She even kept her hands to herself. She smiled up at Carlos and said, "Welcome to the family. I always knew that something would happen between you and my granddaughter. I just always assumed it would be more social and lot less permanent. For both your sakes, I'm glad that wasn't the case."

We smiled and then the questions began. Did everyone know? Is it a secret? When's the wedding? Will you have an engagement party? I looked at my watch and said, "We will have an engagement party. It will be three weeks from Friday. Mom, Maria Manoso and Ella will do the planning. Here are the details about the venue. If you have any questions, please let me know. I will leave everything up to you guys. Carlos and I will just want to add some names to the invitation list, that's all."

Val was looking at me like I was mad. "Are you seriously going to let Mom plan everything?"

"Yup. Carlos and I have already made a lot of plans for the wedding itself, so if Mom wants a say in anything, it's going to have to be the engagement party."

I looked up at my Mom and said, "One thing about the party, we want to make it very clear that we don't want any gifts. If people want to spend money, they can donate to charity. We'll provide you with a list of options. Maria will call you on Saturday and the three of you can get together and figure out whatever you want to do. I know the time is tight, but I also know that you three will have a blast together."

I then turned and looked at Val and said, "Sis, will you be my Matron of Honour?"

Val looked at me and came over and hugged me. "Of course I will. Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather have Mary Lou or Lula?"

"They will be bridesmaids but I wanted my sister to be my Matron of Honour. Besides, Mary Lou was my Maid of Honour at my last wedding. I didn't want to tempt fate by having her again."

Val hugged me again and I said, "Can you get away and meet us for lunch at Pino's on Saturday? We're getting the entire bridal party together."

Val looked over at Albert. He looked a bit worried, but after a moment and a stern look from Val, he nodded. She looked at me and nodded. I then said, "I hate to leave, but we have to get Julie back and I have to go tell Mary Lou and Connie. Can you guys hold off on any phone calls for about an hour minutes? I want to tell them about the wedding rather than let the Burg grapevine let things loose."

Everyone nodded so we all made the rounds. Julie felt a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, but she was invited back anytime. Mary Alice also suggested that she join them for a day. I kissed my dad on the cheek at the door and he hugged me saying, "You've done well Pumpkin. I'm glad to see you so happy."

"Thanks Dad. Carlos tells me that you want a security system. What's up with that?"

"I just thought about all the memories and trinkets in our house and decided that it was time to invest in protecting them. Having a son-in-law in the business will mean that we get the best service possible."

I kissed my dad and then walked out to the car with Carlos and Julie. We waved from the car and Carlos drove us back to Ron's, keeping his eyes on the road and on all of the other cars around us. We hugged Julie and bid her goodnight. We were on the road on our way to Pino's only a few minutes later.

Carlos looked over at me briefly and said, "That went well Babe. I think your family likes me." He was grinning at this so I asked, "Why would you ever doubt that my family would like you?"

"They used to see me as a thug. Just because I asked you to marry me wouldn't change that."

I smiled at him and said, "I guess they just realised that their perception of you was wrong."

We pulled into the Pino's parking lot and I saw that both Connie and Mary Lou were already there. I looked at my watch and gasped. We were 5 minutes late. Carlos raised his eyebrow and then we both started laughing. We walked into the restaurant and saw Connie and Mary Lou sitting at a table across from each other.

Carlos excused me and headed to the restroom. He figured it would be easier to explain what was going on without him present. I nodded and hobbled over to the girls. They both stood and hugged me. Connie asked, "What's the occasion? This isn't' the usual girl's night out time or venue."

I looked at both women and said, "I have something I need to ask the two of you."

The both looked at me with curiosity so I continued. "I have something that I need your help with on the last Saturday of September."

Mary Lou narrowed her eyes and asked? "What is it? You're not asking us to help you move are you?"

I laughed and said, "No. Would you both do me the honour of standing up with me? Will you be my bridesmaids?"

Both girls squealed, nodded and hugged me. When they pulled away, they both looked at me like they wanted to ask something. They looked over my head and understanding passed over both of their faces. Mary Lou squealed. "You're marrying Ranger? Oh my god Steph, I'm so happy for you."

Carlos approached the table and received a hug from each of the ladies. When we were all seated again, a waiter arrived with the nicest bottle of champagne that Pino's sold and 4 glasses. Carlos opened the bottle and poured out the glasses. He looked each of us in the eye and said, "Thanks for agreeing to help us on our special day. Now that we're practically going to be family, I would like you both to stop calling me Ranger when it's not work related. My name is actually Carlos and I'd prefer if you used that."

Both women nodded and smiled as they took a sip of their champagne. When I lifted my glass, Mary Lou reached out and took my left hand. I had to switch my champagne glass to the other hand so I could still drink it. They both gushed over my ring and lifted it so it caught the light. Connie and Mary Lou both asked a lot of questions about the wedding. They wanted to know the venue and whether I'd decided on anything yet. I told them that we just decided on a date the day before. We only just finished telling people about the wedding, so we haven't had much of a chance to do a lot of planning.

Carlos looked at me and winked. He then said, "I hope you ladies can make yourselves available on Saturday afternoon. The entire bridal party is going to meet here for lunch and then we're being joined by a special guest. Our guest will be arriving at 2PM, but if you arrive at noon, Steph and I will provide lunch for everyone."

I noticed Connie look behind me and then a hand was placed on my shoulder. I turned my head and almost fell out of my chair in an attempt to figure out who was touching me. "Calm down Steph, I just came over to congratulate you and Carlos."

Eddie was standing beside me, helping me back into the seat. I looked over at Carlos and said, "I guess our 30 minutes are up. My mother must have jumped on the phone as soon as the second hand ticked over."

Carlos laughed and helped me stand up so I could hug Eddie. I thanked him and he left us alone to celebrate after shaking hands with Carlos. An entire group surrounded us so I didn't even bother to try to sit down for the next 30 minutes or so. Carlos and I received many hugs and handshakes from the off-duty cops who frequented the place and various family friends. It was somewhat overwhelming. These were the same people who watched Joe and me like we were a tennis match.

Everyone was standing around smiling and laughing. I heard the door open and the sudden stern look on Connie's face made me turn. A path cleared in the crowd and none other than Joseph Morelli was striding towards Carlos and me. He had his cop face on until he was within a few feet of us. The cop face was replaced with a huge smile. "Cupcake, you look so happy." He then looked over at Carlos, who was also smiling.

What Joe did next didn't surprise me at all, but it must have surprised everyone else in the room because I heard a few sharp intakes of breath when it happened. Joe reached out his right hand and shook hands with Carlos and then did that man-hug thing where their shoulders meet and he patted Carlos on the back with his left hand. When they pulled apart, both men were still smiling.

I looked over at Connie and smiled. She raised an eyebrow to Mary Lou, who was standing there with a look of disbelief on her face. I laughed at them and said, "Joe, why don't you join us? Do you want some champagne?"

Joe smiled at me and said, "Sorry Cupcake, I'm just about to go on duty. I didn't want to wait too long to officially congratulate the two of you. I was on my way out the door when my mother called to give me the news. I decided to stop here on my way to the office."

I smiled at Joe and said, "Thanks Joe. I really appreciate that. I guess I'll see you on Thursday night then?"

Joe nodded, kissed me on the cheek, shook Carlos' hand and left. Both Connie and Mary Lou were staring at the door as Joe walked away as if they'd just witnessed the most unbelievable thing in the world. Both Carlos and I just stood there smiling as we waited for the girls to come out of their stupor. Mary Lou was the first to speak. "Joe knew?"

I nodded, but Carlos replied. "I called him and sort of asked for his blessing. Steph and Joe were over and they were both OK with that, but I know Joe had problems with me. I wanted to tell him rather than let him hear about it from the Burg grapevine. We also have to work together from time to time, so I figured it would make things easier if he knew."

"Wow. There will be plenty of people out there who will assume you and Joe hate each other. That little exchange will boggle a lot of minds."

We all laughed at Connie's comment, but I had to admit that she was right. I'm sure my mother even worried about Joe's reaction. She always liked him. Mary Lou had to get home and Carlos and I had a bit of a journey ahead of us, so we said goodbye. Both girls promised to turn up on Saturday. Connie could join us for lunch, but Mary Lou wasn't sure. She said that she'd definitely be there by 2, but she wasn't sure about lunch. That depended on Lenny's availability or a sitter.

Once in the car, I relaxed a little. Carlos looked over at me and said, "Well, the easy parts are over. I should probably talk to Tank and the guys, just to confirm that they're willing to stand up with me. My brother might be a bit of a pain to pin down on Saturday. I'll have to call him in the morning and swear him to secrecy."

I looked at Carlos and smiled. "You can ask Ron tomorrow when you're down at the beach, and Tank already knows. I'm sure a phone call will suffice for Bobby and Lester."

"Yeah, you're right Babe. My brother is the only unknown factor at this moment. Alex travels a lot for work, and the wedding isn't that far away. I don't want to discount him, but it's unlikely that he'll be available."

Carlos picked up my hand and brought it to his lips. I smiled and asked, "If your brother is unavailable, do you know who else you'll ask?"

"I will probably ask Hal. He's shy, but we've been through a lot together, so I'm sure he'll see it as an honour. I know I will."

Carlos and I spent the rest of the trip back to the beach house in silence. I spent a little bit of time thinking about the surprise on Saturday afternoon, but I didn't dwell on it. Instead, I was thinking about tomorrow. I had a sudden thought and pulled out my phone.

"Hi Ella, it's Stephanie."

"Hi Dear. What can I do to help?"

"Well, as you probably already know, Ron and the kids are coming over tomorrow to spend the day at the beach. Lula and I have a bit of work to do and then afterwards, Tank is going to join us for a BBQ."

"Did you want me to put some food together for you?"

"No, that's not why I called. I actually called because I'd like to invite you and Luis to the BBQ. We already have all the food. Carlos is going to make a couple salads and we're just going to grill some burgers and hotdogs, nothing fancy. I just thought you might like to come out for the day as well."

"Oh, that sounds lovely. I need to double-check with Luis, but he's not home right now. I'll send word with Ron in the morning. I'll bring something for dessert."

"We have loads of ice cream already, but if you feel obligated to make a cake or something, I'm sure the kids would enjoy it. Lula and I are trying to avoid foods like that at the moment."

"I'll bring some fruit to put with the ice-cream instead. That way everyone is happy."

"That works for me. Call when you get close and use the typical RangeMan travel protocols. The beach house is an unofficial safe house."

"OK. See you tomorrow."

I got off the phone with Ella and noticed the corners of Carlos' lips turned up. "What's with the almost smile?"

"I'm just proud of you for avoiding things like Ella's cake."

"Well, I can't really exercise in my current condition, so I have to do something to make sure I can still fit into my jeans."

Carlos laughed and said, "If you want, we can work around your cast to get you a bit of exercise."

He grinned and winked at me, leaving me with no doubt as to what he was talking about. I blushed and rested my head on the seat and dozed until we arrived home. It was nearing midnight, so we hurried through our respective bedtime routines and climbed into bed. Carlos pulled me towards him and I think he managed to drift off seconds before I did.

* * *

Thanks for all the encouragement. I have a question though. What is FanFiction etiquette? I have read a few stories where the author mentions replying to each reviewer. Is this normal? I don't want to offend anyone with my lack of replies. Let me know if you want my reply or not.

Cheers,

L.


	17. Chapter 17

JE owns the characters. Enjoy!

* * *

**_Carlos' POV_**

Stephanie and I were up and moving around pretty early the next morning. I assumed that she would want to sleep in but she was raring to get more searches going before Ron arrived. As soon as 8 AM rolled around, I felt that it was early enough to call my brother. If he was out of the country or in another time zone, I'd just leave a message.

Alex answered after the 3rd ring. "Carlos, is that you calling? I haven't heard from you in a while. The folks have kept me up-to-date with the RangeMan happenings. I'm glad things are going well despite your troubles."

"Thanks Bro. I actually called to see whether or not you will be in town much nearing the end of September."

"Let me see," I could hear him flipping through a book. "I'm here the last half of the last week in September. Why's that?"

"I'm getting married the last week of September and I was checking to see if you were available to stand up with me."

"Wow Carlos, I'm really happy for you. I can't wait to meet the lucky lady. I'm also honoured that you asked me. Listen Carlos, I don't want to disappoint you by missing a flight or something and letting you down at the last minute. I will do my best to be there for the wedding, but I don't think that I am the best choice to stand up with you bro. My life is too unpredictable and I just don't want to cause problems."

I smiled sadly and said, "I understand Alex. I really appreciate that you'll try your best to be there. Please keep this to yourself. We're telling the rest of the family Friday. If you come to dinner at Ma and Pa's that night, you can meet Steph."

"I'll see what I can do. I'm leaving first thing Saturday morning and heading to Tokyo. I'll try. If I can't make it, I'll be home in two weeks. Maybe we can set something up then."

"Sure. Talk to you soon."

I hung up with my brother and thought about what his life was like. He worked for a pharmaceutical company and he spent most of his time abroad. He is married, but I'm not sure he and his wife are in the same place more than one week out of four. I never want my marriage to be like that. I will have to make sure that Stephanie can come with me if I need to travel or try and send another person in my place.

I called Bobby and get a 'Hell yeah' response. Lester asked if he could be the Best Man so if something happened to me or if I had cold feet, he could step in and marry Steph. I laughed and said that that post would be filled by Tank. Lester was disappointed, but when I reminded him that there was no way Lula would stand back and let Tank marry Stephanie. I also invited Bobby and Lester to the BBQ this evening. Bobby would come and Lester might arrive if his flight landed on time. Dan was back at work and in full swing up in Boston so Lester wss coming home a day early.

My next phone call was to Hal. He was very honoured to be asked and very shy about standing up in front of so many people. The only thing that convinced him was the free custom-made suit and paid time off to attend any wedding related fitting or errand. In reality, Hal was very pleased to be asked. I don't think he expected it at all. That's mostly why I asked. He's a nice guy, he's known me almost as long as the core team, and he's always had my back. He's an employee, but he's also a friend. He would also join us for the BBQ.

I walked past the library and heard the printer going. I assumed that meant that Babe had finished another search. I popped my head in the office and asked, "Can I get you anything Babe?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I could use a bottle of water. I'm a bit thirsty."

I walked out to the kitchen and pulled 2 bottles out of the fridge and returned to the library. I handed one to Steph and took a long pull from the other. After my thirst was quenched, I looked over at Steph and said, "How many searches do you have left?"

She looked at her list and said, "After this one that is almost complete, I have 2 more. There are 5 left on Lula's list, but we'll share them until they're finished. I'm just going to get the 2nd one started on the spare laptop."

I nodded and smiled. I then kissed my Babe lightly and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. I went into the kitchen and pulled a few things out of a cabinet. If I was going to make some salads for the BBQ tonight, I needed to cook a few things ahead of time. I know what you're thinking. I don't cook. You're wrong. I can cook. I just don't do it very often.

I wanted to have a few different salads, but I didn't want one of those unhealthy fat-filled potato salads that Ella usually makes. Instead, I was going to make three very healthy salads. The first and easiest could wait until later. It was just a green salad with a bunch of different vegetables in it. The one I'm going to make now is a bit more complicated. It requires 2 things to be cooked ahead of time and let to cool in the fridge for a few hours.

I pulled out a small pot and filled it ½ ways with water and set it on the stove to boil. I next pulled out a frying pan and started cooking some quinoa. Once the water was boiling, I dumped in some red and wild rice. I let both cook for 15 minutes and drained both, setting them in a bowl on the counter to cool. I'd stick them in the fridge a little later.

I washed up and was drying my hands when my phone rang. I looked at the caller id and smiled as I answered the phone.

"I'm just about there Batman. Shall I park in the garage again?"

"Sure thing. I'll go out and open the door now. See you soon Lula."

"Damn straight."

I laughed and hung up the phone. I double-checked that everything was put away and headed out to the garage. I opened the door just in time for Lula to pull in. I watched her jump out of the car and walk towards me. I don't know why, but I felt it necessary to hug and kiss this woman on the cheek. When she pulled back from me, she looked at me and said, "Damn, Batman. Are you going soft on us?"

I shook my head and said, "No. I've just come to realise your worth."

Lula grinned and said, "It's about damn time."

I laughed and said, "Steph's in the library. I'll bring in some coffee in about 30 minutes or so. I am just going to check that we have everything we need for the BBQ. The guest list has increased a bit and I'm not sure we have enough food anymore."

"Why? Who all did you invite?"

"Ron and the kids, you and Tank, Bobby, Lester, who will probably bring Fiona, Hal, Ella, Luis and, uh, I think that's it. So including me and Steph, that's 14 in total."

"Tank is coming early so he can stop and get whatever you need. I'm sure Ella would also be happy to help."

I nodded and said, "I'll make a few phone calls and make some arrangements."

Lula smiled and headed to the library and disappeared behind the door. I returned to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. I put the rice mixture into the fridge and looked around the kitchen. The second salad was easy. I would leave it till a bit later and returned to the small sitting room where I had left my list of customers.

I thought about the volunteers who would be meeting us the next night and pulled out a notepad and started writing things down that came to me. RangeMan would be legally liable if something happened with one of these volunteers. As a result, I wanted to minimise the risk as much as possible.

When I was finished with my list, I phoned Tank.

"Hey, how are things out at the beach today? It looks like it's going to be a nice and warm day."

I smiled and said, "It sure is. Your boss might even let you off early so you can come out and enjoy the sunshine."

I heard Tank chuckle and went on to explain the reason for my call. "I was thinking about the volunteers we are going to get and I think we need to have a few stipulations put in place."

"I was thinking the same thing, but I haven't come up with much so far. I was going to talk to you about it later this evening."

"Well, let's discuss it now. I want this finalised in time to be printed along with the other consultant requirements that we'll hand out tomorrow night."

"OK. Go ahead Ranger. I have a pen at the ready."

I smiled at his silliness and said, "First of all, it will be mandatory for all consultants to wear a RangeMan uniform and a RangeMan issued Kevlar vest. Ours are better than the ones the police wear and offer much more protection."

"Got it, what's next?"

"All consultants must wear a RangeMan issued gun and prove that they can pass our basic firearms test. They are not allowed to wear any police issued weapons, but they are welcome to have a backup personal piece as long as the weapon is registered and has been inspected and passed by our team. We have to follow the law here as we will be held liable if anything happens."

"OK, next."

"All consultants will have a RangeMan partner. In other words, no two consultants can be out on patrol together unless an emergency is declared."

"Anything else?"

"That's all I have for now. Do you have any other ideas?"

"Actually, I do. I don't think that it is a good idea for the consultants to help out with skip tracing. Having a cop involved could actually hurt our chances because they'd be less likely to want to do what it takes to bring the skip in, if you know what I mean? I think they should stick to patrols, and responding to alerts."

"That's a good idea. Add that to the list."

I waited a few seconds and then Tank said, "Done. What do we want to say about shift-work and hours?"

I thought about that and said, "I think we'll stick with 4-hour shifts for now. I don't want anyone coming off a 12-hour shift and then directly onto a RangeMan shift. So, I guess they can't work more than 12 hours in a 24 hour period, including a 4-hour shift with RangeMan. My preference would be a 4-hour break beforehand as well, but 2 hours would be acceptable."

Tank was writing and then said, "What about the maximum number of RangeMan shifts in one day?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, some cops work 6-day weeks for a month and then 4-day weeks for a month. That gives them a 3-day weekend where they could work for us if they wanted."

"Oh, I see what you mean. In that case, I'd approve 8-hour shifts. One shift per day."

"OK, I'll get this typed up along with all of the other Contractor stuff and bring a copy for you to review later. Is there anything you need me to pick up?"

"Yeah. I have invited Bobby, Lester and Hal. Steph invited Ella and Luis, so there are more people than we originally intended. We need some steaks, burgers and buns."

"OK. I'll pick some up and head over around 2."

"I'll likely be down at the beach, but Steph will be at the house. Just call when you're close so she knows to expect you."

I was just about to hand up when I had one final thought. "Wait. Who is on Martine duty today?"

"Um, I think Woody and Zip are with them. They will be relieved by Binkie and Ram later today."

"Can you contact Woody and Zip and tell them that they'll be joining us for the BBQ but they're shift will need to be extended. Also let Binkie and Zip that they're shift will start later. We'll call them so they are at Ron's place when they get home."

"No problem. I'm sure Woody and Zip will be fine with the extended shift if it involves the beach and food."

I laughed and hung up. I sat there and smiled and realised that there was nothing that I needed to do. I leaned back on the sofa and let my mind wander. I was thinking about my family and how they would treat Stephanie when I brought her to dinner on Friday. The thought of my Babe jolted me and I remembered that I had promised to bring some coffee to the ladies.

I jumped up and regretted it immediately. I must have jarred or twisted in a way and spend the next couple of minutes stretching and grimacing as I made my way to the kitchen. I poured three cups of coffee and put two on a tray and carefully carried it into the library.

Both women looked up at me as I entered the room and looked at me gratefully. I handed Lula her coffee and then I walked over to my Babe and placed the cup next to her. She watched me as I did this and frowned. "Are you alright Carlos?"

I nodded and said, "I twisted my back a bit and it hurts a bit."

She smiled up at me and stood. She took hold of my hand, grabbed her crutch and then led me out of the room and into our bedroom. She forced me to sit on the bed and then reached around me and pulled out a bottle of pain medication. She handed it to me and said, "Take two of these now. Ron and the kids will be here in about an hour and I don't want you to be hurting or in a bad mood because of the pain."

I took the bottle from her hand and leaned in and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I just held her close. After a few minutes, she shifted off the bed and said, "Why don't you lay down for a bit and let the meds take effect. I don't want you overdoing it and ending up back in the hospital."

I looked at the woman beside me. She was looking at me with a stern face, but it was also filled with such love. I smiled at her and agreed to rest. She hobbled back to the library. I grabbed a bottle of water and my phone and then retreated to the bedroom. I took two pain pills and then stretched out on the bed. I must have been tired because I was asleep within seconds.

**_Ron's POV_**

Who would have thought that it would be so difficult to get three kids ready for a day at the beach? Stephanie and Carlos were expecting us around 11. The plan was to have a picnic lunch at the house with Stephanie, Lula, Carlos and our muscle. Tank would join us a little later and then we'd all head back up to the house for a BBQ. I was excited for the kids, but I was also looking forward to spending some time with some adults.

I didn't really notice it when the kids were around, but I was feeling a bit isolated and I was beginning to crave some adult interaction. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids and I love being with them and spending time together. It's just that I'm used to doing it with a partner. I'm used to doing things with Rachel.

I didn't want to dwell on those thoughts so I checked and double-checked the bags the kids had left at the door. They each had a towel, a swim suit, a change of clothes and a sweater. I was satisfied with this and went to make sure I had everything. I had all the same things as the kids, but I also had a big bottle of sun block, a hat and my sunglasses.

As I picked up the hat, I called out to the kids and asked them each to find a hat. All three came running in a few minutes later and stuffed a hat into their bags. I smiled at them and asked, "Are you just about ready?"

All three grinned and shook their heads. "What's wrong? I thought you were looking forward to spending some time at the beach and visiting Stephanie and Carlos?"

Julie stepped forward and said, "We are looking forward to it. Ella gave us some art supplies and we decided to make something for them. We're almost done. We just need another 10 to 15 minutes."

I laughed and said, "OK. I'll load up the car and come back in to check on your progress."

Emma started to turn and then stopped. She looked at me and said, "No Daddy, you can't see. Just wait here and we'll be out as soon as we're done."

I took my time packing the bags in the back of the SUV. I put my sunglasses in the front and then went into the kitchen and put some water into a cooler. It wasn't that long of a drive, but I wanted to be prepared. After 15 minutes of waiting, the kids came out with what looked like some sort of a banner. They hurriedly rolled it up and put it in a shopping bag and then filed out to the car.

Zip and Woody had explained the whole 'defensive driving' routine while we waited for the kids. I was just supposed to follow the route mapped out by them. If they spotted anything, they'd call me en route and give me instructions as necessary. We pulled out in a caravan of sorts and headed to Point Pleasant.

I saw Woody pass us and let us pass him several times during our journey, but we made it all the way to the beach house. We both parked in the drive way and walked to the front door. We didn't even have to ring the bell because Carlos opened the door as if he expected us. I thought for a second and realised that Zip had probably called when we got close.

Carlos smiled at us all. He let both Julie and Emma give him a hug and then he shook hands with the men. Diego seemed to think he fit into that category and Carlos took it very seriously. Carlos even started calling Diego, 'Dude.'

We were given a brief tour of the house but Carlos kept us away from the library. He explained that Stephanie and Lula were hard at work in there and we didn't want to disrupt them just yet. They'd come out and join us for lunch shortly. We went out back and looked down at the beach and I had to agree, the view was spectacular.

A little while later, Stephanie and Lula came out of the library and joined in on the fun. The kids were excited to see them and they all went inside to help get lunch ready. I stayed out on the patio and took in the view. Carlos came out a few minutes later to join me. He looked over at me and said, "Ron, there's something I wanted to ask you."

I nodded and he said, "I was wondering if you'd be one of my groomsmen in our wedding."

I don't know how to explain how surprised I was by this. I looked at him for about 30 seconds before I managed to find my voice. "Are you sure you want me to stand up with you?"

Carlos nodded and said, "I know we have an odd relationship. You married my ex-wife and have raised my daughter as if she's your own, but I still consider you a friend. I don't have a lot of friends. In fact, if you accept, you'll be the only non-RangeMan groomsman."

I was touched and Carlos and I had gotten a lot closer over the past month. I looked at the man that I used to be wary of and said, "It would be an honour to stand up with you Carlos."

I watched as a hint of a smile erupted into a huge grin. Carlos laughed, shook my hand and pulled me into a manly hug. I laughed and asked, "Who else do I have the honour of sharing the stage with?"

Carlos listed off the names. Tank was his best man and Bobby, Lester, me and Hal rounded up the men. Stephanie's sister was going to be her matron of honour. Lula, Julie, and two women I hadn't met yet were going to be the bridesmaids. I was a bit surprised by the number of people involved. "What happened to a nice quiet wedding?"

Carlos laughed and said, "Well, when Stephan and I sat down and started planning, we both realised something that surprised us. We wanted it all. We want the big wedding party. We want a nice reception and we want a wonderful day to remember."

I could understand his feelings. I thought the same when I married Rachel. I must have frowned because Carlos asked me is something was wrong. I shook my head and said, "No, I'm fine. I just remembered my own wedding and having similar thoughts."

Carlos apologised for bringing up bad memories, but I got over them quickly when Carlos changed the subject. "All of the bridal party are going to meet at Pino's on Saturday afternoon. Do you think you can join us?"

"I was going to go up to Boston on Friday. I only want to go for a day, so I should be back in time. What's up?"

"it's a bit of a surprise, but it requires the entire wedding party to be present."

"OK. I'll be there. I'll have to bring the kids though."

"The kids are part of the wedding party. Besides, we could keep the kids for you and meet you there."

I agreed to this plan and shook hands with Carlos to seal the deal. We then went in search for the kids and lunch.

**_Stephanie's POV_**

As soon as Lula and I walked out of the library, we could hear the kids. Emma came running and hugged both Lula and me. She seemed to want to drag me into the kitchen, so I let her. The three of us came into the kitchen and I saw why she was so insistent. Above the table, the kids had hung a huge banner that read, **_Congratulations Mama Steffie and Papi Carlos_**. There was a picture of a sparkling ring, a picture of some doves and some flowers drawn all around the words. It was very sweet and the thoughtfulness of the whole thing actually brought tears to my eyes. Julie saw the tears and rushed over. "Are you sad that we called you Mama?"

"Oh no Julie, I love it. I really love it. I'm not sad at all. I'm just so happy to have you all in my life. Did your Papa see this?"

Julie nodded and said, "He had a similar reaction to you, although he's too manly to actually tear up." I hugged Julie and then Diego came over and hugged me. Normally he insisted on a handshake, but today he was in a hugging mood and I took full advantage of it. I didn't let him go until he squirmed and whined. As soon as he got away from me, Diego looked up at the banner and said, "We argued over whether or not to call you _Steph_ or _Steffie_. Obviously Emma won. She also won the _Papi_ or _Papa_ debate as well."

Diego grinned and walked away and I went to help get lunch set up. We had a choice between eating at the dining table and eating outside. After a unanimous vote, we carted the food out to the patio table and we all squished ourselves around the table. Lunch today was pretty basic. We had a few loaves of whole wheat bread and platters of cold cuts, sliced cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. There were a few sauce options as well, but most of the adults avoided the mayo and opted for mustard or nothing at all.

We talked as we all ate our fill. Ron explained that he was flying to Boston Early Friday morning and returning Saturday. We discussed having the kids coming and staying with us. We'd pick them up on the way home after our consultant recruitment drive. Ron agreed, the kids were excited and we were looking forward to spending some time with them.

When everyone was finished with their sandwiches, Woody made a box of treats from Ella magically appear. At first, I was disappointed because I'd have to abstain from a fat and sugar filled delight. That is until Woody explained what was in the box. It was fruit and nut bars made from dates, raisins and nuts. They were very healthy and they really hit the sweet spot. No, I did not mean not ***that*** sweet spot. I meant that after eating one of them, I no longer had a sugar craving.

The guys were all going to take the kids down to the beach, but because Lula and I still had some work to do, they volunteered to clean up after lunch. I gladly took them up on this offer. Lula and I returned to the library after I had a quick kiss and a hug from Carlos.

We left our final searches running over lunch and we were happy to see that they were finished by the time we returned. This meant that we could concentrate on reviewing the information and ruling out as many of the people as possible. We printed out the last two searches and then moved away from the desks and sat on the sofa. We laid the folders out for each search in front of us and started to review them.

I would review a folder and pass it over to Lula. If neither of us caught anything, it would go in the reject pile. If something stood out to either of us, we'd put it in another pile and revisit it later. We were so engrossed in our task that we didn't hear the kids and the guys leave. We also didn't hear the phone ring and we didn't hear Ella or Luis when arrived.

At 4:30, Lula stood and stretched a little. We had reviewed over ½ the files and not a single file held anything of interest. I looked at Lula and said, "Let's call it quits for the day. We can go through the other ½ of the files tomorrow."

Lula agreed and we took the organised the files and put them away for the night in a lockable cabinet. We walked out into the kitchen to find Ella and Luis hard at work getting everything ready for the BBQ. I looked at them and said, "You didn't need to do that. You could have gone down to the beach and spent some time with the kids and the guys."

Ella smiled at me and said, "We were down there for a little while, but we thought we'd be of more help up here. Tank brought some extra food because Carlos invited a bunch more people, so we walked down with Tank. After a bit of sun and fresh air, we came back up."

"Oh, that's good. A day like today shouldn't' be spend indoors."

Lula and I delved in and helped get things ready. We sliced a bunch of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and various other burger toppings. Ella looked in the fridge and saw the bowl of rice that Carlos made earlier. She asked me what it was for and I shrugged and said, "Carlos wants to make some sort of salad. He said it would only take a few minutes."

"He did mention that he wanted to make a broccoli salad and a green salad. I can make them now and leave this other one for him."

Lula and I continued to slice vegetables and put things on platters as Lula brought some water to boil to cook the broccoli. I'm not a huge fan of the green stuff, so the idea of a broccoli salad doesn't really appeal to me, but who knows. This broccoli salad might turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread. Who was I to judge? Oh wait. It's going to be a healthy salad and so far, most healthy things don't taste all that great.

Lula and Luis carried a bunch of chairs and then the dining room table itself out onto the patio. Luckily the table wasn't too heavy and it was easily manoeuvrable. I looked around and noticed that the banner that the kids made was gone. I was a bit worried that something had happened to it. Luis must have seen me looking around because he reassured me and said, "Don't worry Steph. We moved the banner outside. We thought it would be more visible since we'll spend the evening outside."

With that mystery solved, I looked over at Lula and asked, "Would you like something to drink? I'm pretty sure we have loads of beer, wine and a few other soft drinks."

Lula nodded and said, "A glass of wine wouldn't go amiss. It's probably healthier than beer. I'm going to do my best to stick to my diet tonight."

"Good idea. I'll join you with some wine, red or white?"

I looked in the fridge and found a few bottles of chilled white wine. I also saw an open red on the counter, breathing. Lula looked at both options and said, "Well, the red is already open. I guess I'll have a glass of red."

I looked in a few cabinets and found some wine glasses. To save time later, I pulled out a few other glasses and put them on the counter. I poured 2 glasses of wine and handed one to Lula. She touched her glass with mine and we both took a sip. Since neither of us are big wine connoisseurs, we both shrugged and took a second sip.

Lula laughed at my expression and said, "I'm guessing you think it tastes pretty good too, but you don't want to sound stupid because wine isn't your forte."

I nodded and probably turned a bit red at the admission. I don't' know why I felt embarrassed because Lula was just as unknowledgeable about wine as I was, but there you go. I was embarrassed. I picked up the bottle itself and thought that reading its label might help. Nope, it didn't help one bit. The only thing I learned was that it was made in California and was a merlot.

My phone rang just as I was putting the bottle back on the counter, so I answered it without bothering to look at the caller id. "Hey Beautiful, Ranger told me to call you and tell you when we were a few minutes out so you weren't too surprised to have us at your door. We're just about to pull up in front of your house."

"I'll meet you at the door. You'll probably get there before me at my slow pace."

Lester laughed and hung up and I grabbed my 2nd crutch and swung my casted leg towards the door. I was right, Lester did beat me. He opened it just as I was about to reach out and grab the door handle. Luckily for him, he opened it slowly enough for me to back away from the door. I say lucky for him because if he'd caused me to fall, Carlos would probably have taken offence.

As soon as Lester was through the door, I found myself lifted off the floor and wrapped into his arms. "I'm so glad to see you that you're OK. When I heard about the plane and that you and Boss man were in the hospital, I was really worried."

"I'm OK Les. You can put me down now, just gently because I dropped my crutches."

Lester put me on my feet and then bent to pick up my crutches and handed them to me. It wasn't until then that I realised that Fiona was also standing in the open doorway. I smiled at her and said, "Fiona, it's great to see you again. How are you?"

"I'm great Steph." She reached around my crutches and gave me a huge hug. Lester left us at the door and went to greet Lula, Ella and Luis. I looked back at Fiona and smiled. She looked a bit sheepish and said, "As you probably already know, I decided to take a chance on Lester. So far, it's not been bad. We're taking things slow, but he seems OK with that. We've been on some pretty spectacular dates and I've held out on him and he hasn't run away yet."

I smiled at Fiona and looked over towards Lester. I wasn't surprised to see that he was looking our way, but I was surprised to see that he wasn't looking at me. He was just staring at Fiona with such a sappy look on his face. I turned back to Fiona and said, "I don't think he's going to run away Fiona. I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. I think you may have tamed the reigning playboy."

Fiona laughed and said, "I won't lie to you, but I hope that's the truth. I'm completely and totally falling head-over-heels for that man. I was so afraid of letting him into my bed that I forgot to guard my heart. Now I'm terrified because he has the power to crush me."

"I know exactly how you feel. I felt the same way about Carlos. We stayed apart for so long because we were both afraid. I can't promise you that it will be perfect with Lester, but it could be. You just have to decide if he's a chance you're willing to take."

Fiona sighed and said, "I guess you're right. Being with him terrifies me, but being without him terrifies me more. I guess that's my answer really."

I hugged Fiona and agreed. "I guess you do have your answer. Now go tell him."

I watched as Fiona walked over to Lester. She took his hand and pulled him aside. A few seconds later, I saw her mouth move, but I couldn't tell what she said. It must have been good because Lester's face went from his usual cute smile to his devastatingly handsome full-on grin. He pulled Fiona towards him and kissed her with so much passion that I was afraid they would start a fire. When they finally came up for air, they were both flushed and the rest of us were wolf-whistling and clapping.

Lester and Fiona turned to face us with beaming faces. Lester said, "Fiona has just agreed to move to Trenton so we can try a real relationship. I'm so happy."

While we were congratulating them, my phone rang again. This time, it was Bobby. He was calling to tell me that he was about to knock on the door. He also told me that Hal was with him. I told him to just come in. Hal and Bobby joined us a few seconds later and Lester shared his news with them. They all did that complicated handshake thing and I pointed them towards the patio and had Luis carry out a cooler filled with bottles of beer.

The party was in full swing by the time that Ron, Carlos, Tank, Woody, Zip and the kids came back. I directed them to the various bathrooms and they all had a quick shower to rinse off the sea salt. The kids went first and then the men. Carlos came down about 20 minutes later. He decided that he'd shower last, and he gratefully accepted the bottle of water and the pain pills I handed him. I was guessing that a day in the sea would have been hard on his still healing body.

Carlos took the pills and then carried his water outside. He talked with each of the guys and checked to see if each of them could be at Pino's at 2PM on Saturday. Hal looked a bit apprehensive because he said, "I'm on monitor duty Saturday from 12 to 4."

Carlos smiled and said, "Not anymore. Tank will find somebody to cover for you. I need you all here Saturday at 2. If you can be there at 12, lunch will be provided."

"What's this about Ranger?" Bobby asked.

"It's a bit of a surprise. It's more of a surprise for Stephanie, but you men might appreciate it as well."

It was agreed that the guys would be there and we moved on to firing up the BBQ and taking turns with the tongs. Tank insisted on cooking the steaks, so we let him have his way. I didn't mind because Tank cooked a mean steak. The kids all voted for a burger or a hotdog, so plenty of each was added to the grill. Food was in the process of being set out and Carlos disappeared inside to put his salad together.

The two tables were filled with bowls of salad, buns, burger and hot dog toppings and all of the table sauces you could possibly imagine. I was looking at the spread and wondering how Ella could make broccoli so appetising. "Ella, what did you do to that broccoli? It actually looks edible."

Ella laughed and said, "I added some onion, a few quartered grapes, some turkey bacon and some homemade low-fat salad dressing."

"Well, it looks delicious. I can't wait to try it."

The very next second, Carlos carried out his salad. It also looked great. I asked him what he put in it. "It's got red rice, wild brown rice, quinoa, dried cranberries, almond pieces and a lemon dressing."

"Wow. It sounds healthy and tasty."

Carlos winked at me and handed me a plate. "Dig in then."

As I was adding a spoonful of the rice salad and the broccoli salad, Carlos told everyone to help themselves to the food. They let Lula, Ella, Fiona, me and the kids go first, but as soon as we were out of the way, the guys descended on the food as if it was their last meal. I'm so glad that Tank brought a bunch of food because we'd have definitely run out.

We ate, talked, joked and had a general good time. We watched the sunset and as soon as it got dark, Ron decided that he should take his kids home. It was 9PM after all. Ella and Luis also made moves to leave, saying that late nights were reserved for the young. We said our goodbyes and then I looked around at the people who remained. There was the core team, Fiona, Lula and me. The guys were chatting about something or other so I offered Fiona and Lula something to drink.

We all gathered in the living room and talked about a lot of things. At midnight, Fiona started to yawn, so Lester suggested that they leave. Carlos looked around and said, "It's too late to drive all the way back to Trenton. We have enough spare rooms here. Why don't you guys stay and head home in the morning?"

Bobby and Hal declined the offer because they both had to be in the office in the morning, but Tank and Lula as well as Lester and Fiona took us up on the offer. Once all the guests had left and rooms were allocated, we all headed to bed. Lula and Tank shared a room and Fiona and Lester shared a room. I could tell based on Lula's expression that she wasn't overly disappointed about having to share with Tank. Fiona on the other hand, looked afraid. I pulled her aside and told her that she could sleep in that last spare room, but she decided that sharing a bed with Lester wouldn't be the end of the world.

I bid everyone goodnight and then got ready for bed. I didn't last much longer, even with Carlos beside me, kissing my neck gently. I remember telling him that I loved him. I remember him telling him that he loved me, but beyond that, I have little memory.

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Thanks for your patience, your reviews and the encouragement. More to come.


	18. Chapter 18

Here we go again. These characters don't belong to me.

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**_Lula's POV_**

When Carlos offered to let us stay the night, I was beyond grateful. I was getting better with early morning, but as a result, late nights were now hard for me. If had to sit in a car for an hour before actually getting to bed, I doubt I'd be very functional tomorrow.

I was kind of nervous about sharing a bed with Tank. I mean, we've been intimate in the past, but not recently. We have been taking things slow and even though we are living in the same house, we have yet to sleep in the same bed. I know nothing will happen tonight. We're both tired and have a lot of work to do tomorrow.

I got ready for bed and came back out to find Tank sitting on the end of the bed, looking very uncomfortable. He looked up at me and I asked, "Is there something wrong Tank?"

He looked a bit startled and said, "Um, I didn't know what side of the bed you wanted. Do you have a preference?"

I laughed and said, "Nah, I'm good with either side."

Tank looked very relieved at that and said, "Good. I have this thing about sleeping on the left side of the bed. I can't sleep if I am on the right, I tend to wake up in a panic and because I'm disorientated, I tend to hurt anyone who startles me."

"I'll take the right Tank. I have no preferences whatsoever. Come on, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow will be here soon enough."

Tank looked at me for a few seconds and then he reached out and pulled me down to him. He kissed me and then said, "I can't believe you're OK with this and that you didn't ask me why. You are an amazing woman Lula."

I smiled at him, took his face in my hands and said, "I know you Tank. I know that you will tell me when you're ready. I have come to realise that no amount of nagging or asking will get you to do anything but shut down and shut me out. I'm willing to wait until you are ready. This time around, I know that you are worth waiting for, regardless of what you think."

Tank just sat there staring at me. I had my hands on his face and he was looking at me with such a loving expression. He reached up and touched my face and said, "I've been afraid my whole life to open up to anyone. People rarely see past my size and as a result, it's easier to let them think I'm a bad guy. You never once looked at me like I was anything other than a man. I know we're taking things slow, and I want to continue to do that, but when we decide to take the next step, I hope you'll consider doing it as my wife."

"Was that just a proposal Tank?"

He looked a bit sheepish and said, "Actually, it wasn't."

My face must have shown my confusion because Tank quickly said, "I do want you to be my wife Lula. I just want to wait until we're both ready. I will ask you again, and when I do, you will be in no doubt that it is a proposal. I love you Lula. Please be patient with me."

"I already told you that you are worth waiting for and I'm not going anywhere."

I leaned into him and kissed him and then said, "C'mon big guy, get in and we can talk in the morning."

I watched Tank walk to the left side of the bed and crawl under the covers. Once he was situated, I turned off the lights and walked over the right side and crawled in beside him. Neither of us said anything, but I heard Tank's breathing regulate after a few minutes. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.

**_Fiona's POV_**

I was terrified. Up to this point, Lester and I had kept our relationship strictly unphysical. I knew his reputation and I was afraid to be alone with him in a situation that could result in us having sex. Despite his reputation as a lady killer, Lester has not once pressured me for anything. He has been patient, romantic and completely understanding about my reluctance to get involved with him.

He once told me that his playboy days were akin to eating an appetiser at a cocktail party. They were tasty and fun to eat, but they didn't really fill you up or satisfy you like a good home cooked meal. At first, I was annoyed that he was comparing women to food. Next, I was annoyed because he insinuated that a woman was like a home cooked meal, or somehow implied that they needed to stay home and produce said home cooked meal.

Lester spent three days trying to calm me down after that. He explained that he wasn't comparing woman to food and that he wasn't interested in having a woman cook for him. He was capable enough of doing that for himself. What he meant was that he wasted a lot of time on the wrong women so he could know when the right one came along.

He never came right out and said it. He has never really told me what his feelings were for me. He has taken me on several dates and expressed interest in being more than just a friend, but I've always held back. The one time he kissed me, I thought I was going to melt into a puddle, so I've avoided situations like this ever since. Sharing a bed with him would make me vulnerable, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

I was currently hiding in the bathroom, putting off being alone with Lester as long as possible. I couldn't keep this up all night, but a few minutes more would be OK right? Who am I kidding? I've already been in here for 20 minutes. Lester is bound to realise that I'm freaking out. I looked myself in the mirror and rationalised that without nicely combed hair and a bit of makeup, Lester might not like the look of me. I might actually be safe. I sighed, grabbed my overnight bag and headed to our room.

I was debating whether or not I should knock when Lester opened the door. He was grinning and wearing a pair of sweat pants. He looked at me and said, "Were you just hiding in the bathroom, debating on whether or not you'd be able to keep your hands off me? Or were you worried about whether or not you could trust me?"

I looked at Lester and thought about what he asked. I'm sure I turned beet red as I thought about what he said. I stuttered a bit and said, "I think m-maybe a little b-bit of b-both." I never stutter unless I'm really nervous, but Lester didn't tease me about my stuttering. Instead, he grabbed me and hugged me tightly.

"A little of both, eh Firecracker? I'm both honoured and slightly offended. I promise that I will be a perfect gentleman tonight. It's late, we've had a long day and I'm tired. Come on. Let's get to bed."

Lester held out his hand and I didn't even hesitate to take it. I followed him into the room and then let him lead me to the side of the bed. He then leaned in and kissed me tenderly and then left me to climb into the bed as he walked around to the other side. I climbed under the sheets and lay back on my pillow. I turned on my side and faced Lester. He was already facing me with a huge grin on his face.

I smiled at him and said, "Goodnight Lester." I closed my eyes and tried to quiet my mind and fall asleep. A few minutes later, I opened my eyes to find Lester's grin unchanged. "What?" I asked.

"I'm just taking this opportunity to observe you when you're not so guarded. When you had your eyes closed just now, you looked so relaxed and beautiful."

"Go to sleep Lester. I can feel your eyes on me and it's keeping me awake. I'm tired and you don't want me to get grumpy."

"Sure thing Firecracker. Sleep well."

I smiled at Lester's nickname for me. Some of his earlier attempts were a bit annoying and less than desirable. Luckily, he moved on with each groan or eye roll. When he finally landed on Firecracker, I was annoyed. The more I heard it, the more I got used to it. The more I got used to it, the more I liked it. Lester rolled onto his back and I did the same moments later, right before falling asleep.

**_Steph's POV_**

Lula walked into the kitchen about 5 minutes after I did. She looked a little tired, but she seemed in good spirits. She smiled gratefully as I handed her a cup of coffee made in the way we both liked it. She took a large drink and looked around. I knew she was looking for Tank so I said, "Tank and Carlos went for a bit of a jog along the beach. Carlos isn't really cleared for that kind of physical activity, but he promised to take it slow and Tank promised to keep an eye on him."

Lula nodded and I started pulling out things for breakfast. Lula and I each ate a bowl of muesli with yogurt and fresh fruit. It wasn't as good as a donut and some Frosted Flakes, but it was good enough. Lula emptied her bowl and looked around. "This is a nice place Steph. Is it the Batcave?"

I laughed and said, "No, this house actually belongs to Carlos' parents. They didn't need it and they offered to let us stay here. I love it here, but I don't know how much longer we can stay here. It's just not close enough for us to commute every day. Both Carlos and I are still recovering and the trip is quite exhausting."

"Are you looking for something closer to Trenton?"

I nodded and said, "Carlos has contacted a real estate agent. They will come up with a list of properties for us to view soon."

Lula smiled, stood and said, "OK, let's go review the last dozen searches. Maybe something will jump out at us."

I agreed and we walked into the library, closing the door behind us. Lula pulled the stack of searches towards her, took the first folder and handed me the 2nd. I focused on the papers in front of me. As I finished a search without any questions, I'd set it aside. I got down to the 3rd last folder before something popped up that hit me as odd.

I finished the entire folder before I said anything. I closed the folder and looked over at Lula. She was deep in thought and I waited until she closed her current folder. She noticed that I wasn't moving for a new folder and she looked at me with a raised eyebrow. How come she could do that and I couldn't? I ignored that question and handed her the folder in my hand. She opened it and I let her read it before I said anything.

She marked something in the folder and then continued reading. A few minutes later, she closed the folder and looked at me. "I am assuming that there was something in Henry Paradis' file that stood out to you?"

I nodded and Lula took another look at the page that she marked. She looked back at me and said, "Why would the General's aide visit him in prison? The General was relieved of his duties, so his assistant was no longer employed by the General, or employed at all."

I looked down at the paper Lula was holding. I hadn't noticed that fact. I said, "I didn't even notice that Henry Paradis was the General's aide. The thing that stood out to me was the fact that he visited both the General and his wife. So far, he's the only one who has visited them both."

Lula looked back at the file and asked, "Where did you see that he visited Gina? I didn't notice that."

I took the folder from her and showed her the first page. It states that he visited the prison to visit the General, but he left before seeing him. Instead, he had a meeting with another inmate. Only the number was listed. That's Gina's number."

Lula's eyes widened. "That is odd."

"It's even odder now that I know he was the General's assistant. Let's go see if Carlos and Tank are back."

We left the office and walked out into the lounge. Nobody was there, so we continued into the kitchen. Nobody was there either, but we could hear voices. They were coming from the patio. We walked outside and we were greeted by Carlos, Tank, Lester and Fiona.

Carlos stood and gave me a quick kiss and then asked, "What's up Babe? You look like you have news."

I nodded and said, "Both Lula and I found something in this one file."

I handed it to Carlos and he read through it without showing any expression. When he was finished, he looked at both Lula and me and said, "I think you'll have to spell it out to me. I don't see anything out of place."

I looked at Lula and she nodded for me to go first. I looked around the room at the guys and realised that telling Fiona could go against the legal agreement we had signed. Carlos must have realised the problem so he turned to Fiona and said, "Fiona, Stephanie and Lula had to sign legally binding confidentiality agreements. These agreements restrict the sharing of information relating to this case to RangeMan personnel only."

Fiona stood and said, "I understand Ranger. I will go have a shower and get ready for the trip back to Trenton."

Before Fiona was able to leave the room, Carlos blocked her way and said, "Actually, before you go, I have a question for you. Would you accept a job with RangeMan? "

Fiona looked a bit shocked and asked, "Why would you want me to work for you?"

"The skills you learned in the army and as an operative will be useful to RangeMan. If you want to think about it for a while, that's fine. We can talk a little later."

Fiona stood there with a bit of an open mouth. She didn't seem like she believed what she had heard. She looked around the room at each of us and finally said, "I'd like to work for RangeMan. When do you want me to start at RangeMan?"

Carlos looked at her and said, "Come in tomorrow with Lester. He starts at 08:00. You can shadow him for the day. Tank will come up with a way to get your training organised and then fit you in to the regular schedule once we sort out the rest of the consultants. Speaking of consultants, you should come to the event we're hosting this evening at Pino's. We're recruiting new consultants from the Trenton PD. It would be good to show them that we're open to employees from other branches of law enforcement. You can bring Lester if you want."

Fiona laughed at this and headed upstairs to get ready. As soon as she was gone, the rest of the guys looked up at me expectantly so I began to explain what was going on for the benefit of all present.

"Lula and I were hired by the FBI to run background checks on everyone who visited the General and Gina. We ran these checks and it wasn't until we were near the end of the pile that something jumped out at us. It's almost funny, but something different jumped out at each of us. I reviewed the Henry Paradis file and noticed that he visited both the General and Gina on different occasions. In one particular visit, he only visited Gina and forgot to visit the General. The General was called for a visit, but Henry left before the General was brought down. This was the day before Gina was killed and the General was injured."

Everyone was listening to me intently. I then turned to Lula. She stood beside me and said, "I reviewed the file myself after Stephanie was finished and I missed the visits with Gina because they were listed by inmate number rather than name. Anyway, the thing that struck me as odd was who this man was in relation to the General. He was his personal aide.

"At the time of his visits, the General had been relieved of duty. His aide was no longer an employee of his, so I don't see why he would visit the General."

Both Lester and Carlos were listening to use with blank faces. As soon as Lula mentioned that Henry worked for the General, both of their eyes met and they had a silent conversation. As soon as I was finished, Lester looked at Carlos and asked, "Ranger, wasn't there some young guy with the General at his reception when we first met Gina?"

Carlos nodded and said, "Yes, and as I recall, he was frequently present when we discussed debriefing schedules and deployment schedules. He was never there during actual classified conversations, but he was there for scheduling. He would have known when I was going and for how long. He wouldn't have known where I was going though."

Carlos looked at me and Lula and said, "Can you please do an in-depth search on this guy? There might be something in his background that can shed light on this whole thing."

Lula and I nodded and left the room straight away. We sat down and went through the various searches and divided them between us. We got to work and promised to let the guys and Fiona know if we found anything.

**_Carlos' POV_**

OK, we now know that the General's aide was involved in this somehow. He's quite young so I figured he was just another pawn. I looked around the room and saw Fiona standing in the doorway. I then remembered that she worked for the General as well and asked, "How well did you know Henry Paradis?"

Fiona looked at me and said, "I ran into him every time I visited the General. He was present when we discussed schedules, but no actual classified information was discussed. All schedules were made using codenames."

I nodded in agreement. My interactions with him were the same. Lester looked over at me and said, "You know what Ranger? I keep thinking about the first time we met Gina. I remembered that it was Paradis who started to talk about various missions. He would have known dates and personnel, and if he knew Gina beforehand, he might have set us up."

"I agree. Let's wait to find out what the searches return before we make any decisions. It could all be a coincidence."

Lester nodded and asked, "How long do you think the searches will take?"

"I'm not sure. We need to leave here by 3PM in order to get to Pino's on time. If the ladies are not done by 2, they will have to decide whether to finish today or not. We're also brining Ron's kids back with us tonight, so I'm hoping we can finish this today."

Since there was little to do but wait, Lester and Fiona disappeared back upstairs to pack. Tank sat back and relaxed on the sofa and I pulled out my phone to make a few phone calls. I wanted to check in with the other 3 offices to make sure things were up and running well.

Boston was struggling with manpower still so I promised Dan that I'd get him some help. I then talked to Atlanta. They were running well and had the capacity to send 3 men up to Boston to help out. Miami was also doing well and offered to send 2 men. I then called Dan back to let him know he would get an additional 5 men the following day. Dan was very grateful. I told him to call if the 5 men were not enough. I also encouraged him to step up his recruitment, but not to skimp on the usual RangeMan employee checks and minimum skill requirements.

After Dan promised to adhere to RangeMan hiring procedures, I got off the phone and turned to Tank. "Do we have all the paperwork we need for this evening?"

Tank nodded and sad, "Ram will bring it when he arrives at Pino's to set up for tonight. We have reserved an entire section and we have pre-ordered the food and drinks so they are not overwhelmed when we arrive."

"Great. Sounds like you have everything under control Tank. Keep up the good work."

Tank smiled at me and said, "No worries Ranger. Just take your time and get better. I can make sure things run smoothly day-to-day."

"As always Tank. I'm never worried when you're in charge."

Tank and I sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Tank broke the silence a little while later when he asked, "What kind of bachelor party do you want?"

I looked at him and thought about it for a few minutes. "I'm not really sure. I do know that I'm not really interested in what is typically expected at a bachelor party. Something fun with my friends would be better than a strip club or getting drunk."

"I'll think about it for a bit and then come back to you. I can understand the whole strip club reluctance. Celebrating a marriage with naked women has already confused me. I didn't mind being one of the crowd, but if I were the one getting married, I am not sure I'd appreciate it as much."

Lester must have been standing at the door because he added his own 2 cents. "I have to agree with Tank. A strip club or hiring a stripper seems pretty tacky. I'd be happy with something a bit less typical."

Both Tank and I turned to look at Lester. Usually, he would be the guy pushing for us to go to a strip club or hire a stripper. He raised his hands in defence and said, "Come on guys. People change. I can understand your reluctance to celebrate your wedding with a stripper. It's cheap and doesn't really respect your relationship with Stephanie."

"Wow Les, are you joining us in the land of relationships?"

"I'm trying. Fiona is a bit reluctant because of my history with women. I'm trying to show her I have just been waiting for the right woman."

Neither Tank nor I was surprised by Lester's confession. We could tell by the way he deferred to Fiona and gave her the choice to join him. He was very protective of her and he rarely ever treated her like she was a woman he wanted to sleep with. I'm sure he does want that, but he doesn't _just_ want that. He's never treated a woman like this before. As a matter of fact, he's never spent this much time with a woman before, not even Stephanie. I wished Lester luck with Fiona and he disappeared back upstairs, presumably to find Fiona.

**_Stephanie's POV_**

For a young guy, Henry Paradis has been around. He went to college in California. He taught for 3 years at a primary school in San Diego. There was a 5 year gap in his history before he turned up in Washington. Try as we might, neither Lula nor I could find out where he was for those 5 years. That in itself was newsworthy. As a result, we gathered our search results and returned to the lounge where Tank and Carlos were sitting.

Both men looked up expectantly as we entered the room. We sat and I started. "Henry Paradis had a typical childhood. We went to school and then college in northern California. He then went to college in San Diego to be a teacher. His first job at primary school lasted for 3 years after he graduated from college. After that, he disappears from all record for 5 years. The next time he turns up, it's in Washington D.C. where he becomes an aide to a junior member in the General's staff. He moved his way up and became the aide to the General 6 months later."

Carlos looked at me and asked, "You have no idea where he was for those 5 years?"

Both Lula and I shook our heads. "There are no financial records. There are no legal records. It's like he dropped off the face of the earth."

Lula thought for a moment and then said, "Or he went abroad or used an alias."

Carlos looked at me and said, "Put this all together in a typical RangeMan search report. We can pass this information to the Feds and they can figure out if Paradis went abroad. We don't have access to that kind of information at this time. I will contact Saunders now if you can give me the date range during which his whereabouts are unaccounted for, they can check if he was out of the country during that time."

I nodded and flipped through the files. I wrote 2 dates on a sticky note and handed it to Carlos. He walked over to me and kissed me, saying "Proud of you Babe."

He did the same thing with Lula, except substituted her lips with her cheek. Lula beamed at his compliment, as did Tank. I smiled back at Carlos and said, "Well, Lula and I will go clean up our stuff and then get lunch ready. There are plenty of leftovers from the BBQ last night, so we should have plenty of food for everyone."

Lula and I returned to the library and organised our searches into folders. We locked the folders into the drawer of the desk and cleaned up any waste that was lying around. When we were happy that we didn't miss anything, we headed out into the kitchen and started pulling things out of the fridge and setting them on the kitchen island.

Fiona and Lester came in to help us and after about 15 minutes, we had all the makings of a nice lunch set out on the table on the patio. The hot food was reheated and everyone moved out onto the patio. I looked around and didn't see Carlos. I looked around and Tank leaned over to say, "He's still on the phone with the FBI. He'll be in shortly."

I accepted this and accepted Fiona's help to make up a plate for myself. I was managing a lot better with my crutches and cast, but balancing a plate of food was still one of those things that I was incapable of doing for myself. I thanked Fiona and sat down to eat. It wasn't until I was finished my lunch that I looked up and noticed that Carlos was still no there. I looked at Tank and he shrugged. I decided to go find Carlos and see what was keeping him.

I approached the lounge and I could hear his raised voice. Something had happened and whatever it was, Carlos was not happy. I stuck my head in the room and saw that he was currently facing away from the door. I walked in and I saw how tense he was. I didn't want to touch him so I made my presence known by stumbling over something.

Carlos heard the noise and turned quickly. The angry look on his face evaporated when he saw that it was me. He waved to me to sit down, so I walked over and sat on the sofa to wait for him to get off of the phone.

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The next chapter will be up in a few days, or at least that's my goal. Thanks for reading, your comments and encouragement.


	19. Chapter 19

Thanks for all of your patience and reviews. Enjoy what I've done with the characters that belong to JE.

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**_Carlos' POV_**

I sat on hold for about 15 minutes waiting for Saunders. When he finally got on the phone, he seemed annoyed that we were unable to confidently identify the person responsible for everything. I did tell him about Henry Paradis, but he assured me that he had already been cleared. There was nothing in his record or background that gave them a warning flag.

I was getting annoyed. "Why did you contract RangeMan to run these searches if you are doing your own? My two employees have turned up something about Paradis that concerns me. Paradis was off the grid for 5 years. Where was he during that time? We have no access to the databases that contain international travel. You do. Have you checked this already?"

Saunders was silent for a few minutes and then put me on hold. Ten minutes later, he came back on the phone and confirmed that "There is no record of Paradis leaving the US or entering any other country. We have no record of what he did or where he was during this time. We can look into this further if you've run into a dead end."

I confirmed that we had hit a brick wall so there was nothing we could due to further the search. Saunders agreed to take it back and I told him that we'd send our report by the end of the day tomorrow. I was just about to say goodbye when Saunders sighed and said, "Captain, I have some unfortunate news for you."

"Explain."

"Somehow, during the night, Rachel Martine went missing."

"What do you mean she's missing?"

"She was present during the bed check last night, but when they did a check this morning, she wasn't there."

"Has she had any visitors?"

"No, she's not allowed visitors. She's in an isolated wing and has no access to anything like a phone or a computer. The Warden says that there is nothing on the security footage to show her disappearance. They are currently doing a thorough search of the prison to ensure that she isn't hiding. The search is still in progress."

"How on earth can they have no surveillance footage? This doesn't make sense."

I heard a noise behind me and whipped around. I had to ask Saunders to repeat himself and waved at Steph to sit down. "I'm sorry Captain. At this time, we don't know if this was abduction, an escape, or something more sinister. I expect a full report from the prison Warden later this afternoon. I can call you with an update."

I was pissed. I was more than pissed. I think my mood was adequately passed through the phone with my next comment. "See that you contact me when you have answers from the Warden. If they can't find any, I'd like to have my men from Miami to take a look at things. They may be able to find something useful."

Saunders flinched a bit and said, "I'll call you later with an update, even if it's not good news. I should have called you as soon as I found out, but I was hoping that she was just hiding somewhere and would turn up. I'm sorry Captain. If the Warden is unable to turn up anything useful, I'll get your men access right away."

I refused to thank him for his late concern or his eventual agreement to let me know what was going on. As a result, I just said, "See that you do that," and hung up. I took a deep breath and turned to look at my Babe.

"Carlos, what's wrong?"

"Rachel seems to have gone missing. They don't know if it was voluntary or by force. They don't seem to have any information at all."

"Oh no. What do we tell Ron and the kids?"

"I don't know Babe. We have no answers, but we need to at least tell Ron that Rachel might be out there. This doesn't really make sense, but if she convinced someone to help her, she could be out there looking for her kids. Ron needs to know. He can decide whether or not to tell the kids."

"OK Carlos. I'll let you talk to Ron later tonight when we go to pick up the kids. He may decide to forgo his trip to Boston as a result. We need to give him time to process this, but still assure him that no matter what he decides, we'll keep his kids safe. Come on Carlos, you need something to eat. After lunch, we can get ready and head into town. I know you'll probably want to check everything out before the event begins."

I smiled at my Babe. "You're right Babe. I'm hungry and I'd like to look things over at Pino's before people start to trickle in. Why don't you go have your shower now and I'll be up in a bit to have my own shower and get ready to go."

My Babe smiled, gave me a quick kiss and then headed upstairs. I walked out into the kitchen to find the guys packing up stuff from lunch. I rescued a burger and some salad and sat at the table to eat. After I was finished, the kitchen was clean and everything was put away. Tank narrowed my eyes at me and asked, "What's wrong Ranger?"

I looked at Tank and said, "Rachel seems to have gone missing from inside an isolated wing in a secure prison. Nobody knows how she was moved or if it was voluntary or not. I'm going to have to tell Ron this evening and I'm not looking forward to that. If Rachel is out, she'll be looking for her kids. It could turn ugly."

Tank agreed and made a call to the guys who were currently assigned to Ron and family to keep a look out for Rachel. They were also told to say nothing about Rachel to Ron or the kids. I would talk to Ron later tonight and let him decide what he wants to do.

Lester and Fiona headed back to Trenton while my Babe was upstairs having a shower. Lester needed to meet up with Vince to find out if he could stay at his house. Vince already agreed for Lester to stay there, but adding Fiona might cause a bit of an issue. If Vince wasn't agreeable, Lester was going to try and find something else short term.

Tank and Lula also headed home. They wanted to change before the recruitment event that night. I bid them farewell and then headed upstairs myself. Steph was just coming out of the bathroom when I opened our bedroom door. She was dressed in a nice flattering business suit that I guess she bought in D.C. when she and Julie went shopping.

"Wow Babe, you look great."

"Thanks. I'm all done in the bathroom. I'll be in the other rooms getting things ready for the kids."

It was getting late and we needed to get going shortly. I had a quick shower and wore some of the clothes that Stephanie bought for me in D.C. I pulled on a pair of black dress pants and black leather shoes. I looked through the shirts she bought and picked a cream one. I quickly buttoned it up and went looking for my Babe.

"Are you ready to go Carlos?"

I nodded and made sure I had everything I needed for the evening. Stephanie grabbed her handbag and we started our journey to Trenton. Once we were on the highway, Steph looked at me and asked, "What do you think happened with Rachel? Do you think she escaped or was abducted?"

"I'm not sure Babe. Part of me thinks it is odd that she is nowhere to be found. All of the other people involved so far have been eliminated and found."

Babe and I sat in silence for the rest of the journey into Trenton. I had plenty of things running through my head. I was thinking about the recruitment event. I was thinking about Rachel's disappearance. I was thinking about Julie and Emma and Diego. I was thinking about introducing my Babe to my family. In other words, my mind was going a mile a minute and I didn't know what to do about any of it.

Well, that's not true. I knew what to do about introducing Stephanie to my family. I just had to show up and make sure that they treated her with respect. I also knew what to do about recruiting consultants for RangeMan. In reality, Tank was going to do most of the work. I just had to show up and put a face on the event. I am the CEO of RangeMan and this sort of thing kind of needs my presence.

**_Ram's POV_**

I arrived at Pino's one hour before our event was due to begin. I wanted to use this time to make sure that everything we asked for was prepared and ready. I helped some of the staff rearrange the tables in the section we had reserved. I also double-checked the food and drinks order and had everything set and ready to go with 20 minutes to spare. The cook also agreed to keep the pizzas coming if we ran out quicker than expected.

I was looking around, feeling relaxed and ready for what was to come that evening. That is until I watched Ranger and Stephanie walk into the bar. Ranger looked somewhat preoccupied and Stephanie looked nervous. She kept looking around the room as if she expected to see someone.

Ranger saw me standing in our area and walked over. "Ram, is everything all set up for tonight?"

I nodded and said, "Yes. I have double-checked the food and drink orders. The tables are all arranged as Tank instructed. The leaflets are printed and scattered along the various tables." I handed him a leaflet and he looked it over. He nodded it and put it back on the table to his side and said, "It looks good in here."

He pointed to the banner that was on the front table and asked, "Did you do that?"

I nodded and said, "Vince and I had that printed up. If you don't like it, we can take it down before people arrive."

"No, don't do that. I like it and I think we should see if we could hand it from the ceiling."

I nodded and said, "I'll go talk to the staff and see if they have anything we can use to hand that up."

I walked over to one of the servers and asked her if they had any way of hanging a banner from the ceiling. She looked at me like I was going to rip her limb from limb, but then I smiled. I guess that relaxed her a little because she was able to speak and explain that there were hoops for wires hanging from the ceiling at regular intervals and they had hooks we could use. She went off to find the hooks and wires. When she returned, she looked a little less afraid of me and she even smiled at me when she handed me the container of hooks and wires.

I walked back to Ranger and we each climbed on a table and hung up the RangeMan banner over our reserved section. Stephanie helped us get it straight and we climbed down just as several RangeMan employees arrived. Tank and Lula, Lester and Fiona, Hal, Bobby, Zip, Zero, Manny and Vince all walked in wearing their typical RangeMan uniform.

**_Ranger's POV_**

I looked around at my men and smiled. "I'm glad you could all make it tonight. Please enjoy the food and drink and try to answer any questions that you are asked by any potential consultants. Most questions should be addressed in the pamphlet, but if there is something else that you can't answer, please ask one of the core team. Have fun tonight gentlemen. You've all worked your ass off recently and you deserve some R&R. Just don't go too crazy tonight. This is after all, an attempt to recruit some more men so you guys don't have to work such long hours."

There was a short round of applause and the guys gathered around the tables as the waiters and waitresses brought out pitchers of beer, soft drinks and glasses. I looked around and watched my men relax and start to have a good time. I wanted to join them, but I wasn't cleared to drink alcohol and I wanted to stay alert. I decided to let my men relax tonight and I'd stay alert and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

The first group of cops to arrive didn't surprise me at all. Joe Morelli was first in, quickly followed by Eddie Gazzara, Big Dog, Carl Costanza and Robin Russell. Everyone made them feel welcome and I was just about to go and shake their hands when my phone rang. Normally, I would ignore it in a situation like this, but I saw that it was Agent Saunders so I wanted to take the call. I quickly walked to a quiet corner and answered the phone.

"Captain, I have some news about Mrs. Martine. We are not positive, but we think that she might have been killed and disposed of in the prison waste incinerator. Somebody accessed the incinerator without authorisation during the night. We have no record of who that was or what was burned. There were some human remains found in the oven and we've sent to the lab for DNA testing. The tests will take a few days, and until then, we're assuming that the victim was Mrs. Martine."

"That doesn't make sense. All other people involved in this plot have been killed and left to be found. Why would they bother burning Rachel after killing her?"

"We're assuming that there was something on Mrs. Martine's body that might lead to her killer. I am sorry Captain. We are looking at everyone who went in and out of that prison, but since the surveillance videos were bypassed, it's possible that the perpetrator has already expertly covered his or her tracks. We will contact you if we find anything out."

I heard Saunders take a deep breath and ask, "Do you want to inform Mr. Martine? Or should we send somebody out?"

"No, I'll do it. Ron deserves to hear this from a friend. Can I send some of my men from RangeMan out to help with the investigation? We have our own forensics expert as well as a surveillance expert."

Saunders agreed and I quickly called the Miami office and arranged for two men to get to the prison. I got off the phone and was a bit overwhelmed. It wasn't necessarily grief I was feeling. It was shock, anger, regret and sympathy for Ron, Julie, Emma and Diego. They would all be devastated by this news. I knew I couldn't hide in the corner all evenings so I looked around and recognised lots of cops. My eyes sought out my Babe. I found her on the far side of the room talking to her father. I walked over and shook hands with Frank. "Thanks for coming Frank. Your support means a lot to me and the rest of RangeMan."

"I'm not just here for support son. I want to help out in other ways. I realise I'm a bit rusty, but I can still do office-based things or surveillance."

"We'd be lucky to have you Frank. Just take one of the packets and fill in the forms and then we can set up the tests."

After kissing Babe on the cheek, Frank nodded and then went to join a few of his friends. "What's wrong Ranger?"

I raised my eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes. "It's a RangeMan event. I'm going to call you Ranger at work, remember?"

This time I nodded. I pulled my Babe aside and said, "I just heard from Agent Saunders. He says that the incinerator at Rachel's prison was used without authorisation during the night. They think that Rachel was killed and disposed of there. They found a few pieces of human remains and they are doing some DNA tests to confirm the identity of the body."

My Babe visibly paled. She stood there for a few minutes, just breathing in and out at regular intervals. She was trying to calm herself. After a few minutes, she said, "Oh no, those poor kids. This is going to break their hearts."

I pulled my Babe into a hug and said, "I know. We will tell Ron tonight and then he can decide when to tell the kids. He may decide that he wants to stay in town instead of going to Boston. I just wanted to give you the head's up just in case the kids don't come home with us tonight."

"Thanks for telling me. I will try not to let it affect my mood tonight. This is a RangeMan event and we need to keep alert. Let's go and mingle Ranger."

I smiled at my Babe. Of course she would help me find the motivation to keep moving forward. I needed to push Rachel's death to the back of my mind and focus on RangeMan. I mingled, I talked to men and women who had questions and I gave them answers. The answers weren't always what they wanted to hear, but it was the truth and that's what mattered.

I had to break it Granma Mazur that she could not work for RangeMan. I explained that I would not get insurance for her, but that didn't worry her. I finally had to say, "I'm sorry Edna, RangeMan work is just too dangerous and physical for you at your age. I couldn't bear to see you hurt, so I'm going to have to say no. You can't work for RangeMan."

This little old woman came and stood toe-to-toe with me and said, "You really do have balls, don't you? Most people would lie or try and talk me out of doing something they don't think I could do. You just came right out and said that I'm not capable at my age. I admire that Carlos."

I smiled at her and said, "I'm glad you understand my position. If you really want to help, we can find something that isn't so dangerous. Perhaps you can do some baking or help out in other ways."

Edna smiled up at me, patted me on the arm and said, "I'd like that. Just let me know what you need and I'll be there."

Edna went to join several other elderly people who had all been turned down as contractors. I began to think about other ways to get their help. Perhaps a senior's event or a pseudo neighbourhood watch. I know that they already keep an eye out, but if they did it in an organised fashion and knew what to look for, they could be very effective. I took a note to revisit that thought later and went to find my Babe.

When my arms were happily around my Babe, I looked around the room and called everyone's attention. As soon as things quieted down a bit I said, "Thanks for coming tonight and showing your support for RangeMan. I hope everyone has had enough food and drink."

There were several cheers at this so I went on. "One of the results of our troubles at RangeMan was an influx of requests for security systems from private home owners. RangeMan doesn't typically handle this sort of request, but we've decided to branch out and provide self installed security systems for the home. These would still be the same top-of-the-line kits that we use for our corporate customers, but since we don't install them, they would be far more affordable for the average home owner.

"Because of this, we at RangeMan have decided to trial 4 levels of security. The basic system is for a person who lives alone and doesn't want to leave their house or belongings completely unprotected. The second level is for a couple or a single person with a pet that is home during the day. The third level is for a small family and the fourth level is for a larger family with pets.

"We will put together 4 kits that we want to trial. As a result, if you fit into one of these 4 categories and want to volunteer to test the RangeMan installation kit, please let us know by filling in one of these forms. We will randomly draw one person for each of the four categories and you will receive your kit free of charge. We just ask that you thoroughly test the installation instructions, usage instructions and then provide your feedback. If you feel that none of these fits your lifestyle, tell us about your requirements on this same form. If necessary, we'll expand the levels.

"I want to wish you well tonight and thank you all for coming. Those of you who have volunteered, we'll be in touch. Those of you who are unable to volunteer because of circumstance, thanks for your support."

When I finished, there was a round of cheers and clapping. I smiled and walked around shaking hands and I ended up standing in front of Edna again. She looked up at me and said, "You know, some of my friends would like to help out. We were wondering if we could help out by keeping an eye on the streets. We are all nosey folk, but we don't' really know what information is important. We just know what's interesting. Is that something you could teach?"

I thought for a moment and said, "I think so. It would also be good for all of you seniors to know a little bit of self defence. A weighty handbag can come in very handy in some situations, but evasion tactics would be good to know as well. I'll talk to the guys and come back to you."

"Thanks Carlos. We'd like to help out but because of our age and frailty, it's hard to feel useful."

I smiled at Edna and kissed her cheek. She blushed and returned to her group of friends. I mingled for a little while longer. I interacted with a lot of people and many expressed interest in installing their own security system. I understood the desire to feel safe and I promised that once the kits were ready and adequately tested by the volunteers, they'll be on sale to anyone interested.

The evening was wearing on and the gathering was evolving into a late night party. Steph and I needed to get to Ron's before it got too late so we made our goodbyes and headed to the car. Once outside, Steph hobbled over to the car and said, "You handled Grandma Mazur very well this evening. She's been singing your praises ever since. She even told one of her friends that it was silly for people their age to even consider doing something as silly as applying to be contractors for RangeMan."

I smiled at my Babe and said, "I couldn't let her get her hopes up and I also didn't want to have her waste our time either. I did tell her that there are other ways that she can help out if she really wants."

"I'm sure she'll like that Carlos."

We climbed into the car and drove the short distance to Ron's. I kept alert for any tails and I thought about what to do when we got there. I was going to suggest something, but Stephanie spoke first. "I think you should talk to Ron alone. I'll take the kids into the other room so you and Ron can have some privacy."

I nodded and said, "I was just going to suggest the same thing. I'll tell Ron and see what he wants to do."

We arrived a few minutes later and the kids readily agreed to follow Stephanie into the living room while I went with Ron into the office. He looked at me and asked, "You have some news, don't you?"

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More to follow in a few days.


	20. Chapter 20

Here's another chapter that makes me no money. Instead, it entertains me and hopefully one or two of you. Please enjoy!

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**_Ron's POV_**

I imagined my life without Rachel plenty of times. Every time, I shuddered to think what it would be like for the kids. Rachel would make it hard for me to see them. She would fight for custody. The kids would have to go through hell.

Now, I wonder if that would have been better. How am I going to explain to the kids that they will never see their mother again? She has been murdered and it is now up to me to make sure that they are raised right. I know I left Rachel and I knew that she'd be out of the picture for a while, but it wasn't until just now that it hit me. I'm a single father. I have been that for a month, but it never really sunk in until now.

Before, Rachel was out there. She would still want to interact in the lives of our children. They would want that as well. Now, it's just me. I know I'm not alone. I know I have friends and family, but everything is different now.

I no longer have any legal rights as a parent for Julie. Rachel's death negated the adoption papers, but Carlos assured me that nothing would change. He reiterated this when he broke the news about Rachel a little while ago. He also offered to draw up new papers to put me at ease. I'm not sure whether or not this is needed right now, so I declined, but asked to discuss things again later.

I didn't want to tell the kids about Rachel and then disappear for two days and go to Boston, so I had to decide whether or not to cancel my trip or wait to tell them. Carlos said that there were some DNA tests pending to confirm that the remains found definitely belonged to Rachel. I was going to wait to tell the kids about their mother until those tests were performed, but should I leave them and go about my life as if nothing is wrong?

I loved Rachel. I was angry with her and couldn't spend the rest of my life with her, but I did still have feelings for the woman. I will mourn her loss just as the kids will. The kids were supposed to go and stay with Carlos and Stephanie tonight and tomorrow night. I'll be back on Saturday and we would all meet at Pino's. Carlos said something about a surprise for the wedding party and Stephanie.

Now, I'm wondering if I should stay home with the kids. I didn't know what to do. I walked out to the living room and saw all three kids on the sofa with Stephanie. She was reading a story to Emma, but Diego and Julie were joining in on the fun. Carlos looked up when I came into the room, so I nodded my head outside and he followed me out into the back yard.

"I don't know what to do. I know I want to wait to tell them until the test results come back, but I don't know if I should stay here or go to Boston."

Carlos placed his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. "Ron, there is no right answer here. No matter what you choose, the news will be the same whether you stay or go to Boston. I can't even begin to tell you what to do in this situation. Just know that we will support you and your decisions, no matter what."

I nodded and said, "Thanks Carlos. Maybe I'll go out and talk to the kids. If they have their hearts set on a trip to the beach, I don't think I could say no."

Carlos followed me into the living room. Stephanie must have finished her story because Emma was putting the book away and Diego had slunk off the sofa and onto the floor. He was drawing something on Steph's cast. I didn't see how it would show up against the black, but I left him to figure that out.

I looked at my kids and noticed that all three of them were smiling as they talked with Stephanie. Julie looked up at me and her smile faltered. She knew me well enough to know when something was wrong. She excused herself from beside Steph and come over.

"What's wrong Dad?"

I couldn't tell her the truth, at least not yet, so I told her part of it. "I'm having second thoughts about leaving you guys. It will be the first time since we moved up here that I've left you. I'm just wondering if I should cancel my trip and stay home."

"Dad, we'll be fine. This trip is important for you and the future. I know you want to start your own business and do this sort of thing more often. If you don't go now, when will you go? Once Steph's cast is off, she'll be back at work full time. Papa is also well on the road to recovery. He won't be free soon either. Now is as good a time as any."

I looked down at this young woman in front of me. How did she get so wise? I hugged her and said, "OK. You three can head to the beach and I'll go up to Boston as planned."

Julie smiled at me and said, "We'll be fine with Stephanie and Ranger. We'll also have some RangeMan guys around for extra protection. We can also talk as often as you like on the phone."

We returned to the group and I said, "Kids are you all packed and ready? It's getting late and you have a bit of a drive ahead of you."

All three of the kids jumped up and ran into their rooms. Moments later, three bags were packed by the door and the kids were standing there waiting patiently. I looked at Stephanie and Ranger and said, "I'll be back just after noon on Saturday. We can talk on the phone as much as the kids like while I'm away. If I'm in a meeting, I'll step out for a few moments. I want them to know that I'm available, even if I'm out of town."

Steph nodded and Carlos smiled. He also reached into his pocket and handed me a new phone, still in its box. "This is a RangeMan phone. It is encrypted and secure. I wanted to make sure that you can safely contact us without the chance of your call being intercepted or tapped. We still don't know who is out there so I want to take every precaution. All our numbers are programmed in the phone already."

I looked down at the phone and said, "Thanks Carlos."

I helped the kids get loaded into Carlos' car and hugged each of them before they left. Once back inside, I sat down on the sofa and looked around. The room was empty and I felt lonely without the kids here. I knew it was only temporary, but that didn't seem to help my mood much. I picked up the few toys that were left and retreated to the office where I pulled up the plans to the house I was thinking about building.

I worked for a little while and then got a call from the kids. They wanted to say good night. Since my flight left very early, I promised to call them from Boston as soon as Vince and I arrived. I made a quick phone call to Vince to confirm what time he would pick me up in the morning and then got back to my house plans.

At 11:30, I turned off my computer and got ready for bed. I lay there for a long while, thinking about how I felt about Rachel. Part of me was heartbroken. Another part of me was relieved. If Rachel really was dead, I wouldn't have to battle for my children. They would miss their mother, but at least they would know that she loved them and that she was trying to make amends for her mistake when she was killed. The details of her death would not be shared. I didn't want to scar the kids more than Rachel's death already would hurt them. They deserved to remember her in happier times. I drifted off to sleep remembering some of our happier times we had as a family.

**_Steph's POV_**

Friday morning dawned bright and early. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day, so I got up and dressed for the sunny weather. I wore a nice frilly cotton skirt and a matching t-shirt. I knew that if I was careful, I could probably go down to the beach with the kids.

I heard Carlos get up a little while ago. He went for a very slow and what had to be a painful run along the beach and then returned for a shower. He must have gone down to the kitchen so I went in search for him. I walked in to find him surrounded by the kids and Woody and Zip.

Carlos had made breakfast and everyone was enjoying what looked like omelettes and toast. As soon as I hobbled into the kitchen, a plate was put down in front of me and Carlos insisted that I sit and eat while the food is still hot. What can I say? I obliged him. My stomach was rumbling as I got dressed earlier, so this was a welcome surprise.

After breakfast, the kids wanted to go to the beach. We all agreed to join them, but Woody and Zip would go down the steps with the kids and Carlos and I would go down by car. Carlos suggested that I wrap my cast up so that it wouldn't get dirty. I also decided that a pair of long pants would also help keep things tidy so I rushed upstairs to change. I had a light pair of tan linen trousers that were snug on the cast, but not too tight as to cause the pants to tear. I was happy with the end result and went down to meet Carlos at the car.

We drove down to the beach and met up with the kids. They already had their towels set up and were well on their way to beating Woody's sandcastle. Carlos laid out a large blanket for me to sit on and then went to join the kids. I was the judge of the castle competition.

Woody's castle was pretty amazing, as was Carlos'. Diego's on the other hand, was far superior. It was clear that he had inherited his father's eye for spatial recognition and aesthetic shapes and lines. I declared Diego the winner and the rest of the group joined together to destroy each others' castles, leaving Diego's standing proud.

After the castle competition, the kids went into the water. Carlos and Zip joined them and Woody stayed with me. "How are you feeling Steph?"

"I'm good Woody. My leg doesn't hurt much unless it's jarred or I roll over on it funny when I'm sleeping. I have an appointment next week with some orthopaedic specialist nearby who will take off my cast, do some scans, and then put on a new cast if necessary."

Woody grinned and said, "You'll be back to strength in no time."

"I hope so. I have a wedding to plan and it's hard to think about high heels when I can't even wear a skirt without showing off my cast."

Woody laughed at this and said, "You'll have lots of time I'm sure."

"Not really. We've set the date for 3 months from tomorrow."

"You guys move fast."

"We do. We found where we wanted to get married and this was when they were available. Hopefully the weather holds so we can use the garden."

"I'm happy for you guys. I can't wait to see what your mothers come up with for the engagement party. It will be interesting."

I laughed at this. I was a bit apprehensive about the party, but I knew I didn't care. I'd be happy enough just marrying Carlos. I didn't need a party, but our mothers would want one so they could show off. We'd let them and that will keep them out of our wedding plans.

The kids and Carlos returned and everyone sat on their towels in the sun. Carlos disappeared with the car and returned about 30 minutes later with lunch. We all ate, drank and talked until around 2. We all returned to the house in the car. It was crowded, but it would save time. We had to get ready and go to Carlos' parents for dinner.

We all got dressed. The kids wore their best outfits. Carlos wore his blue shirt from D.C. and I wore my dress. Zip and Woody were relieved by Binkie and Ram. They followed us to Newark and kept watch outside while we were in the house.

Meeting Carlos' family was a bit overwhelming. They were very friendly and inviting to me and the kids. Of his siblings, only Celia was there. We were all sitting in the lounge while Maria was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner with Celia. I needed to go to the bathroom and I overheard the conversation in the kitchen.

Celia was saying, "I don't understand why he brought them. Why is he looking after Rachel's kids?"

I chose that time to hobble into the kitchen and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Maria looked at me and said, "No dear. You can go relax in the other room. We'll come get you when we're ready." After she said this, she gave Celia a very stern look. Celia walked out with me and said, "I assume you overheard our conversation about the kids."

I looked at her and nodded my head. Before I was able to say anything though, Celia stopped me and said, "I didn't actually mean it the way it sounded. I can understand why you guys want to spend time with all three of the kids. They're good kids. I just don't understand why he'd bring them tonight?"

I smiled and said, "We're looking after them until tomorrow afternoon. Ron is working for Carlos now and he had to travel to Boston to check on the new building up there. He only left his kids with us because he trusts that we'll take good care of them. With all the danger surrounding Carlos and RangeMan, it was in everyone's best interest to bring the kids with us tonight. Leaving them with a sitter would have been unfair."

Celia smiled and said, "I understand. Knowing that Ron is out of town makes things a little clearer. Come on. Let's join the men and the kids in the other room."

I spent an extremely pleasant evening with the Manosos. We ate a spectacular meal. We talked about the engagement party and we talked about the wedding. Maria seemed really surprised when we told her that the engagement party was up to her, my mother and Ella. We didn't want to be involved at all. As for the wedding, we had already made a lot of decisions, so there wasn't much for the mothers and families to do.

I explained what colour of dresses we would have but Celia couldn't picture the colour I was trying to describe. Carlos pulled out his phone and said, "Look up some pictures and see if you can find a dress in the exact colour you want. That might help Celia understand your colour theme."

I took Carlos' phone and spend 2 minutes looking through Google images of dresses and pulled up one in the right colour. I showed it to Celia and she immediately started gushing. Julie took a look and grinned. "That's my favourite colour Steph. Did you know that?"

"Yeah, your Papa told me after I told him the colour I wanted. Is that OK with you?"

"It sure is. I will probably want to wear the dress a lot after the wedding. Maybe even to a school dance or something."

Carlos' phone was handed around the room to all the women. When it was finally handed back to Carlos, he pressed a few buttons and then put the phone back in his pocket. I looked at him, wondering what he did, but he ignored my look and continued his conversation with his father.

Maria and Celia both agreed that the colour of the dress was lovely. Maria asked if I had a style in mind, but I shook my head. She smiled and said, "I'm sure you'll find one you and your bridesmaids will like. It's a beautiful colour. It will go well with the charcoal suits you want as well."

We were thinking of leaving when the doorbell rang. Carlos raised his eyebrow at his father, who shrugged and went to the door. Moments later, a man who looked a lot like Carlos, but a little less fit rushed into the room. It seemed like he was out of breath, and as soon as he saw Carlos, he said, "I'm so sorry I'm late little brother. I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to see you before I left town."

He turned and looked at me and smiled wide. He was a handsome man, but he wasn't even in the same ballpark as Carlos. "I'm Alex. You must be Stephanie." He held out his hand and I shook it. Before I could let go, he pulled my hand to his mouth and kissed it. "It's a pleasure to meet you Stephanie. I never thought little Carlos would ever settle down."

This made me laugh. "Little Carlos? Are you sure we're talking about the same man? There's nothing little about him."

Alex leaned his head back and laughed. He looked a lot like his father and Carlos when he did that. He looked over at Carlos and said, "I like her. You've done well."

Alex looked back at me and said, "I'm glad you finally tamed Carlos here. We were beginning to fear that he might never settle down and have a normal life."

I looked at Alex and said, "You don't know me very well Alex, so I'll break it to you gently. I'm not very normal. I doubt anything Carlos and I do from now on will be considered normal."

Alex laughed and smiled. "I like you. You'll be good for my little brother."

I smiled and thanked Alex. Carlos came over and Alex gave him a quick hug and whispered something that I couldn't hear. Carlos grinned at his brother and said, "Thanks bro. Have a safe flight and thanks for stopping in."

Before I could say a word, I was wrapped in Alex's arm and he was kissing me on the cheek. "Welcome to the family Steph. I'm really sorry to have to dash, but I have a very early flight and I still have packing to do. We should set something up when I get back from this trip so we can get to know each other a little better. See you guys soon."

I waved as Alex left. Carlos looked around the room and said, "We should get going. Come on kids."

All three of the kids did the rounds and said goodbye with hugs. When I came to Maria, I handed her a piece of paper with my Mother's phone number and the packet of information I received from the party venue. I know what you're thinking and no, I didn't steal it from my mother, I had two packets for this reason. "My mother is expecting your call. Have fun planning the party. Call me if you have any questions."

Maria gave me a huge hug and then said, "Are you sure you don't want any input into this party?"

I shook my head and said, "No, we trust that you, my mother and Ella will do us proud. Besides, we've already pretty much planned the wedding, so there won't be too much for you to do there. We didn't want you to feel left out."

"OK dear. It's been lovely to meet you and I hope you will come to visit us again soon. I also look forward to meeting your mother. I will call her soon to make arrangements to meet and plan your party."

I smiled and hugged Maria and then Ricardo. Celia wrapped her arms around me and said, "Let me know if you need any help at all. I'd be happy to help in any way I can."

I thanked Celia and ushered the kids out to the car. It was going to be another late night and tomorrow was going to be another busy day. We were meeting with the entire wedding party at Pino's and Carlos had some sort of surprise.

We waved as we drove away and as soon as we were on the highway, Julie asked if she could see her Dad's phone. She wanted to look something up and show me. He obliged and Julie looked up what she wanted and then handed me the phone. I looked at her and grinned. "This is perfect Julie. It will match the bridesmaids' dresses and look lovely." She showed me a picture of a bouquet of purple hydrangeas that were gathered and held in place by a silver ribbon handle. It was gorgeous.

"I actually thought that this would be a good bouquet for you and the flower girls. I think the exact same flower, but cream instead of purple would be better for the bridesmaids."

I had to admit it, she was right. I looked over at Carlos and he was grinning. "You are right Julie. That would be perfect."

"Let me see Babe?"

I turned the phone to Carlos and he smiled. "That is beautiful Babe. It's so simple and perfect. I like it a lot."

I turned and looked at Julie and asked, "What about the flowers for the men? They need something to wear in their button holes. What do you think would work?"

Julie thought for a moment and said, "I think some of that flower, the hydrangea and maybe a cream rose? You probably don't want them all the same though. Perhaps a cream rose with some purple hydrangea for Papa, Abuelo and Grandpa Plum. For the groomsmen, we could have a purple flower and cream hydrangea. As for the mothers and grandmothers, I think a corsage with hydrangeas on a pretty bracelet would be perfect. Hydrangeas come in lots of colours from green to bright pink. If we know what colour of dresses the mothers and grandmothers are wearing ahead of time, we can try to match them. Alternatively, they can wear orchids. They also come in loads of colours and are quite elegant."

"Julie, when you grow up, I think you should be a wedding planner, or at least a florist."

"My mom always told me I had a green thumb. I loved to help her in her garden. That's why I know so much about certain flowers. What else do you have to decide on?"

I thought for a moment and looked at Carlos. He mouthed "invitations and cake' to me and I smiled. I turned in my seat and said, "We still need to decide on invitations and a cake. I want to go to a dress shop to guarantee that I can get dresses in the colour I want and then I will look for an invitation that matches our colour theme. The cake is also dependent on the dress colour."

Julie nodded and said, "I can help with anything you need."

Emma piped up and said, "Me too, especially if there is cake taste testing involved."

"I'll second that motion," Diego said as he laughed at the look on my face. I must have been grinning because Carlos was even chuckling.

We arrived at the beach house at 9:30. It was late and as soon as we were inside, I sent the kids up to get ready for bed. Emma begged for a quick story so I went upstairs to read to them. All three kids had washed, dressed in pyjamas and were waiting when I came into Emma's room. She handed me a book and we settled into her bed to read.

**_Maria's POV_**

I wanted to get started on the engagement party as soon as possible. I read through the packet and looked at the clock. It was only 8:15, so I didn't think that it would be too late to call Stephanie's mother.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Ellen Plum?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Hi. My name is Maria Manoso. I'm Carlos' mother."

"Oh, it's so nice to finally talk to you. I've been wanted to talk to you for a few days, but Stephanie insisted I wait for you to call me, since she hadn't met you yet."

"I met her this evening. She is a charming young lady."

"Thanks. How do you want to proceed with the party planning?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to meet me at the hotel at Chimney Rock Park. We can see the venue first hand and then figure out what we want to do. Stephanie left me a very detailed packet that shows what they offer, so there are a lot of options."

"I like the sound of that. We can meet for lunch tomorrow at the hotel and then sit down and make some decisions. Should we also call Ella? I think both Carlos and Stephanie want her involved."

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. I will call her now. I'm sure she'll want to help out any way she can."

"That sounds good Maria. I'm looking forward to meeting you tomorrow. I'll be there by 12."

"Me too Ellen, see you then."

After I got off the phone, I sat down and thought about who we should invite from our family. Most of our family was local, so that was easy enough. I would invite people from out of town, but I doubted they'd travel all this way for the engagement party when the wedding is only a few months away. Also, the timeframe was so short. Most people wouldn't be able to travel on such short notice.

I asked Ricardo his opinion and he agreed that there was little chance that anyone from out of town would want to travel for a party, but he insisted we invite them all the same. We didn't want to offend anyone. I pulled out a piece of paper and started writing down names. After about 20 minutes, I counted the names on my list and found that there were almost 100 people.

I showed the list to Ricardo and he crossed off several names and said, "This party is about Carlos. These are your friends or our friends. Carlos barely knows them."

I agreed with Ricardo and said, "You're right. We need a list of friends and colleagues for Carlos and Stephanie. Hopefully Ella can provide that."

I realised that I had forgot to call Ella. It was now 9:30, but I knew she'd still be awake. She and Luis liked to read in bed for a little bit before sleep.

"Ella, it's Maria. Are you free tomorrow for lunch?"

"I think so, what's up?"

"I'm meeting with Ellen Plum tomorrow at that hotel in Chimney Rock Park and we wondered if you could join us. We're going to start the party planning and both Carlos and Stephanie expressed a wish that you were involved."

"I think I could manage that. I'll have to get Luis to deliver lunch tomorrow, but it's Saturday so it's a quiet day. Is there anything you need me to bring?"

"Actually, yes there is something we need. Ellen is making a list for her side of the family. I made a list for our side. We need a list of Stephanie and Ranger's friends and colleagues. We figured that you would be in a better position than us to get that information."

"I can do that. What time are we meeting tomorrow?"

"We'll meet at 12 for lunch and then we'll start the planning and look around the venue."

"That sounds perfect. I'll see you there."

After I got off the phone with Ella, I got ready for bed and climbed in beside Ricardo. He was already reading and looked over at me as I pulled out my book. "Is everything set for tomorrow?"

I nodded and said, "Yes. I'm meeting Ella and Ellen at the party venue tomorrow. We'll each have our guest lists and after lunch, we'll start the planning. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun."

Ricardo smiled and said, "Just don't go too overboard. Don't forget that this party is to celebrate Carlos and Stephanie."

I smiled, kissed my husband and said, "I'll do my best." I realised that I was too tired to read so I turned off my bedside lamp and settled myself into my pillows. I didn't last long. The last thing I remembered was Ricardo chuckling softly at whatever he was reading.

**_Carlos' POV_**

As soon as Stephanie went upstairs, I pulled out my phone and called Brigitte Travis. I had saved a copy of the dress colour Stephanie wanted as well as the floral bouquet. I thought it would be easier for Brigitte to come up with dress swatches if she had an idea of the colour my Babe wanted.

I explained to Brigitte why I was calling, and when I sent her the photos, she said, "Mr. Manoso, when you described your bride's colour description, this is exactly what I pictured. I already have plenty of satin, crepe, silk, wool and chiffon in that colour. For some reason, it's not very popular for the events I tend to normally cater to. If Stephanie wants this colour, I can definitely oblige her. I will bring swatches of each fabric with me tomorrow. I also have some swatches of fabrics for the flower girl and ring bearer as well as some other coordinating fabrics for ties and waistcoats for the men."

"Wow, when you do something, you don't leave anything out, do you?"

"Well, it's been a long time since I've done anything like a wedding, and to be honest, I'm looking forward to the challenge. Interior design and decorating is challenging, but it doesn't really utilize my more hands-on skills like sewing and colour matching."

"I'm looking forward to meeting you in person tomorrow Brigitte."

"The same goes for me. Do you by chance have a photo of your bride and anyone else in the wedding party?"

I thought for a moment and said, "I do. If you have an email address, I can send you a few photos this evening."

"Great. I will come up with a few drawings and have them ready for tomorrow. I can tweak them right there in the restaurant after talking with the guys and girls about their preferences."

"Thanks Brigitte."

I got off the phone and went upstairs to find my Babe saying good night to the kids. I went in and was given a kiss and a hug from Emma. Diego shook my hand and Julie hugged me. They all hugged Steph and then we left them to get some sleep. Julie wanted to read, so we let her stay up a little longer in her room.

We retired downstairs and I pulled out a bottle of red wine. I poured us each a glass and then we sat on the sofa and Steph snuggled up to me. "How are you feeling? Is your back sore at all Carlos?"

I shook my head and said, "It's fine now. It was sore after my morning run, but some pain killers helped. What about you? How's your leg?"

"It's fine. It throbs a bit every once and a while, but it isn't sore."

"That's good. We have to go get your leg checked out next week. I also have an appointment to check on my lungs. My appointment is here in Trenton but yours is at an orthopaedic specialist in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, they're on the same day next week, so I won't be able to go with you. Who do you want to accompany you?"

"I'm not sure. Probably Lula and one of the guys, maybe Tank?"

"OK. Would you consider taking Bobby instead of Tank? I'd feel better if he was there to interpret all the medical terminology for you."

"That's a good idea. Maybe I'll just go with Bobby. I don't really need two people. I'd be fine with just Bobby."

"OK. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

We sat in silence for a long time. We both finished our glasses of wine and made our way to bed. We wanted to get up early and let the kids have one last morning on the beach before heading back to Trenton. The latest we could leave to get to Pino's by noon was 11. That meant we had to have breakfast early and be back at the house by 10 after the beach. I'm sure Steph would stay at the house rather than join us at the beach, but that was OK. She could take her time getting ready and the kids and I could have a bit of fun in the sand and sea.

* * *

More to follow. Thanks for reading.


	21. Chapter 21

This one's a little longer because there was no other natural break. Enjoy.

* * *

**_Stephanie's POV_**

I was taking my time getting ready. Carlos' surprise was making me nervous and I wanted to look my best. I decided to wear the same dress that I wore to my parents' place and in D.C. I knew Carlos liked the dress and it didn't look too bad with my cast and crutches.

The kids and Carlos were down at the beach. They walked down the steps with Binkie and Zip and Carlos drove down. He didn't want to strain his back and he also didn't want to lose too much time on the climb back up. He promised that they would be back at the house by 10. It was now 9:30 and I was putting the finishing touches on my hair and makeup. When I was done, I went through the closet and pulled out some things for Carlos to wear.

I went into the rooms where the kids were sleeping and found each one tidy with a bag in the corner and clothes laid out on their beds. They were very tidy kids. I smiled as I saw the dress that Emma wanted to wear. It was very bright and suited her perfectly. Diego was just going to wear a smart pair of dress pants and a white shirt with a clip on tie. It was plain and simple and I'm sure he'd look great in it. Julie was going to wear her new dress. She was getting a lot of use out of it and I was glad. It suited her a lot and she looked great when she wore it.

At 9:45, the kids and Carlos came rushing in. They all ran for the shower and I stayed in the lounge with Binkie and Zip. Neither of them went in the water so they didn't feel the need for a shower. Zip looked at me and asked, "When we get to Pino's, we've been asked to wait outside and keep watch to make sure there are no suspicious people lurking around."

"Thanks guys. I'll make sure to send some pizza out to you. You shouldn't go hungry because of your security detail."

Binkie smiled, showing his adorable dimples and thanked me for thinking of them while we were inside having pizza. Zip also smiled and nodded his head, indicating his thanks as well. I smiled at them as Carlos came in the room. He was wearing the clothes I had left out for him and motioned for me to follow him into the other room. I smiled at the guys and hobbled into the kitchen.

"Babe." Carlos pulled me to him and kissed me. I moulded myself to him and returned the kiss. When we pulled apart, we were both grinning. "It's almost time to go. I'll go hurry the kids up Babe."

I smiled at Carlos and watched him as he walked out of the room. Hey, what can I say, he looks good, even when he's walking away from me. I checked my handbag to make sure I had everything I needed. When I was happy that I had what I needed, I went back into the lounge. I talked to Zip and Binkie until everyone came into the lounge.

We all jumped into two cars and headed to Pino's. We arrived at the restaurant at 11:50. We went in and asked for a few tables to be pushed together and then Carlos went to talk to the bartender. A few minutes later, the waiter returned with a tray of drinks. He handed the kids each a wine glass filled with fizzy fruit juice. He then opened a bottle of champagne and handed Carlos and me a glass and then left us alone.

Carlos picked up the bottle of champagne and poured liquid into both our glasses. When he was done, he picked up his glass, looked at the kids and then at me and said, "I'm very happy that we all got to spend some time together. A lot of people who are involved in the wedding will be joining us soon, so I want to take this opportunity when things are quiet to tell you all how happy I am that you are in my life. Babe, I love you and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Julie, having you nearby has brought so much joy to my life. Diego, you are a brave little dude whom I'm grateful to know. Emma, you're a delight and I look forward to spending more time with you all in the future."

Each of us raised our glasses and Emma said, "To Papi Carlos."

We all smiled, repeated her toast and took a sip of our drink. Julie looked at us and said, "While it's still quiet and it's still just us, I'd like to wish you two all the best. I know you'll be happy and I look forward to spending time with you both."

This time, Diego was the one who said, "To Mama Steffie."

Everyone repeated the toast and we drank once more. We looked at the menus and everyone decided what they wanted to eat, but we wanted to wait a bit to see who would join us for lunch. Lula and Tank arrived, then Lester and Fiona. Bobby and Hal came next, followed by Connie and then Val showed up looking a little dishevelled. She saw me and rushed over and hugged me. "I'm sorry I'm late Steph. Albert was being a bit of a baby and didn't think he could handle the whole day alone with all 3 girls. I had to call Grandma Mazur to come and help. Mom and Dad were out so I had to run over there and pick her up."

"That's OK Val, we haven't ordered food yet, so you're not really late."

"Oh good. I'm starving. I got lunch for the kids before I left, but didn't eat anything."

I handed Val a menu and then waved the waitress over so could take our orders. Once the orders went in, everyone started discussing the mystery guest who would arrive later. Since Ron and Mary Lou were the only two not here, they wondered if either of them could be brining the guest. I thought I'd clarify things and said, "Mary Lou couldn't come for lunch because Lenny is working today. She'll be here by 2. Ron is flying back from Boston and should be here soon. I doubt the mystery guest is accompanying either of them."

We ate and talked about nothing in particular. A few of the guys made bets about the identity of our guest. They made bets on whether or not the guest would arrive with Ron or Mary Lou. I watched money exchange hands when Mary Lou walked in around 1:45. I saw more money exchange hands when Ron walked in alone a few minutes later.

Ron looked glad to see his kids. As soon as they saw him, they ran to him and hugged him. He came back to the table and took Emma's seat. She climbed up on his lap. He greeted everyone and the waitress was called over to take Ron and Mary Lou's order. Mary Lou ordered only a drink but Ron ordered food. He didn't get a chance to eat at the airport.

Ron looked over at Carlos and said, "I can't believe how well they're getting on in Boston. The steel framework for the building is already up. The glass is expected to go in tomorrow or the next day and the internal electrics are well under way. They'll have the roof on by the end of next week at this rate."

Carlos looked shocked at this news. He smiled and said, "That's great news Ron. I'm sure the guys in Boston will be happy to get into their new building. I know our temporary offices here are quite the squeeze."

Ron nodded and said, "The site for the building here should be cleared by the end of the month. We have planning permission for a two tower building on site of the old building so we can start on the plans as soon as you're ready."

Carlos nodded and turned his attention to the door. Bobby had looked over and stood. He recognised somebody that had just walked into Pino's. Carlos also stood and walked over to the woman and introduced himself. I saw them have a short conversation and then they walked over to our table. Bobby smiled and waved. The woman waved back but remained silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you all to Brigitte Travis. She is my special guest."

I stood there looking at this woman. I had no idea who she was or why she was here. Her name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I looked around the room and saw that both Connie and Mary Lou had their mouths open wide. Connie went so far as to cover her mouth with her hand to stop her from gasping. I looked at Carlos and he grinned at me and said, "Babe, Brigitte is a famous fashion designer and she has agreed to design and make the dresses for the ladies and the accessories for the men."

As soon as he said that, it hit me. She designed my favourite dress from the Oscars last year. I stood up and walked over to Brigitte and introduced myself. "Hi Brigitte. I'm Stephanie. It's an honour and a pleasure to meet someone as talented as you. I can't wait to hear what you suggest for the wedding."

Brigitte smiled at me and said, "RangeMan did me a great service last week. I can't think of a better way to repay the debt than do this for you. I've been itching to get my hands back to fashion design. I've been focusing far too much on interior design and neglecting my passion in favour of a paycheque."

"Wow. What did RangeMan do for you?"

"Well, Bobby and his partner rescued me from a stalker who was trying to kill me. They arrested him and when they brought him to the police station, it turned out that there were three outstanding arrest warrants for him. Two were for murder and the 3rd was for attempted murder. I was ever so grateful."

"I can imagine that. Would you like some champagne or something else to drink?"

Brigitte accepted the glass of champagne that I held out for her and she came and sat down beside me. She looked around at the group assembled there and said, "Carlos has sent me a few photos of you all and I've come up with some basic drawings based on the colour scheme that he and Stephanie have selected. This is just a preliminary meeting to discuss what you want. Once I have a better idea about fabric, colour and shape, I can go ahead and take measurements and then make a mock-up dress in a less expensive fabric so you can try it on and see how it looks.

Brigitte looked at me and continued. "Carlos has told me that you want a dusty lilac colour for your bridesmaids dresses. I have several fabric swatches here. Let me know if any of them are what you're after."

She handed me a book that was filled with different coloured fabrics open to a page with purple hues. Each was a different shade of purple in varying fabrics. I looked through the book and selected the one that Julie pointed at. I smiled and nodded. I handed the book to Brigitte, who then pulled out additional swatches and handed them to Val, Mary Lou, Connie, Lula and Julie. Once everyone had one, she asked them to hold them up to their chin. The only person that the colour didn't suit was Val. It made her look a bit washed out with her blonde hair.

Brigitte riffled through her bag and pulled out a lighter shade of purple. It was the same colour, only a few shades lighter. She handed it to Val and it looked much better. She looked at me and said, "Would it be OK with you Steph if your Matron of Honour had a slightly different shade dress?"

I looked at Val who said, "It's your wedding Steph. If you want the same colour, I'll wear it. You were willing to wear that eggplant dress I picked out."

I laughed and said, "I like the lighter colour on you Val. It will look great with the rest of the dresses and it will suit you better." I turned to Carlos and asked, "What do you think Carlos?"

He smiled at me and said, "I agree with Steph, Val. The lighter shade suits you more than the darker one. They match perfectly though, so it's still on theme."

Brigitte smiled and then turned to Carlos. "I know that you guys are planning on wearing charcoal coloured suits, and I think that's a great idea. That will match the purple brilliantly. I found this fabric and I think it would make the perfect waistcoat for you Carlos. We can get similar fabric for the rest of the guys."

She handed Carlos a silver bit of fabric. It was damask with silver with on an off-white pattern. Carlos looked at the fabric, showed it to me and then said, "I like this. What do you think Babe?"

I nodded and said, "Do you have the same fabric with the two purples as the background colour? The Best Man could match Val and the others can match the rest."

Brigitte looked in her bag and pulled out the darker purple in the same fabric. She said, "I definitely have it in the darker colour. I will see if I can find it in the lighter colour. If I can't find it ready-made, I'll contact the manufacturer and see if he can make a bolt for me. We're friends and he's done that before with similar fabric"

I looked around and none of the guys looked worried to have to wear a purple waistcoat. I guess that's because the purple wasn't the dominant colour. Silver was and the purple was less prominent. Brigitte turned back to Carlos and said, "What about the tie. I can definitely find silk in these colours. What colour do you want your tie?"

Carlos thought for a moment and then said, "I'd like a silver tie." I looked at Carlos and said, "Since silver is the less dominant colour on your vest, that would probably look nice. I'm not sure about the other guys though."

Brigitte smiled and said, "I can probably source some weaved silk that is silver and purple, or both colours of purple. Silk can be easily dyed and I have a friend who makes customised ties for Ralph Lauren. I can get a few mock ups for our next meeting if you'd like."

Both Carlos and I nodded and Brigitte took some notes and then pulled out a notepad. She looked around and said, "Why don't you ladies join me over there at that table by the window. It will be easier to see from there."

The 6 of us moved over to the table near the window and Brigitte laid her book down in front of me. Before she opened it she said, "Carlos sent me a few pictures of you ladies. Based on those photos, I've come up with a few drawings for your dresses that should suit each of you ladies. I don't know whether you want the same dress for all ladies or not Stephanie. That is really up to you to decide, but take a look at the bridesmaid dresses I've come up with."

I opened the book with rather shaky hands. The first dress I saw was a typical sleeveless A-line gown with a runched bodice and a flowing long skirt. I made sure that all of the ladies had a good look before turning the page. The second dress was a little more complex. It was also sleeveless, but this one had a criss-cross pattern across the front. Other than that, it was the exact same as the first.

Both Connie and Lula expressed interest in that dress. That is until they saw the 3rd page. This one was similar to the 2nd, but there was beading and what looked like jewels mixed in along the bodice and flowing up across the left shoulder. It was beautiful. It looked like jewellery was weaved into the dress along with the fabric of the bodice.

The next dress had a halter neck and an integrated sliver and purple beaded chocker at the neck. I looked around and saw Val's eyes pop out when she saw it. I guessed that meant that she liked it. So far, everyone but Julie and Mary Lou has expressed their opinions. The last dress for the bridesmaids was shorter with straps and a fitted bodice and runched waist. Julie smiled when she saw it, so I knew that she liked it. I turned and looked at Mary Lou. She was in awe. I smiled at her and said, "Was there a dress in there that you liked?"

Mary Lou smiled and said, "They were all gorgeous. If I'm honest, I liked the one with the single-shoulder jewellery the most."

I looked around and saw both Connie and Lula nod in agreement. I looked at Val and said, "You liked the Halter neck one didn't you?"

Val nodded and smiled. I then turned to Julie and asked, "Which was your favourite?"

"I liked the shorter one."

I turned to Brigitte and said, "That was easier than I thought. Val will wear a lighter coloured halter neck dress with the choker. My junior bridesmaid will wear the shorter dress and the other three will wear the one with the single shoulder jewels."

The ladies all nodded in agreement and Brigitte smiled. "I think those are great choices ladies. The styles will suit you all." Brigitte made a few notes in her notebook and then handed me another book. She looked at me and said, "It's been a long time since I've designed a wedding dress for anyone, and your figure will make this easier than it usually is. You are tall, thin and you actually have hips. I have come up with a few basic drawings for shape. Once you decide on a shape of the overall dress, we can narrow it down to a specific style and fabric."

I nodded and took the book she handed me. I opened it and gasped when I saw the first dress. It was without detail, but it was so beautiful. It had long sleeves and was extremely fitted right down to my hips, where the dress flared out into a full skirt with a short train.

I flipped the page and the next dress had shorter sleeves and was a little less fitted. The third dress was sleeveless and A-line and the 4th dress was strapless and fitted in a sort of hourglass shape. I looked up at Brigitte and said, "I like the first shape best. I even like the long sleeves."

Lula smiled and said, "That would look great on you. It would be killer if the dress was lace and had a cut out back."

Brigitte looked at Lula and then back at me and said, "I could do that easily enough if that's what you want."

I wasn't sure if it was what I wanted, so I said, "Is there any way for you to draw something with a bit more detail? I'm not sure if I want lace or not. I do like the idea of a cut out back though."

"Sure Steph. I can make a miniature version as well as a few other fabric options. There is also beadwork and embroidery."

"I like the idea of beadwork as well."

Brigitte smiled and said, "I think I'm going to have fun with this. I have a picture in my mind right now and if you are OK with it, I will make a few drawings and a small to-scale mock-up for you to look at."

"That would be wonderful Brigitte. Has Carlos told you that we only have 3 months before the wedding? This is a lot of work. Will you be able to do this in time?"

Brigitte smiled and replied, "Of course I can. I might need to rope in some help to source some of the fabric for the men, but I have no doubt that I can do this in the time available."

I breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Great. What's the next step?"

"Well, if I could get measurements from you ladies today, I should be able to have a practice dress for each of the bridesmaids ready in a week or so. If you could come to my studio in New York a week from Thursday, I can have your dress mock ups ready as well as a template for the final dress. This will probably take a while, so I'd suggest that you plan on being at my studio for the whole afternoon."

I looked at Val and Mary Lou. They were the two that would have the most trouble being out of town for a day. Val smiled and said, "I'm sure Mom can watch the girls."

Mary Lou nodded and said, "I can get Lenny's parents to keep the boys."

Connie grinned and said, "I can't wait to tell Vinnie that I am not going to work that day. He's going to have to answer his own damn phone for once."

We all grinned and I agreed to Brigitte's proposed date and time. I was smiling and then it hit me. I turned and looked at Brigitte and asked, "You wouldn't mind if a couple of the guys joined us? Because of the bombings, we're on high alert and we don't tend to go anywhere unprotected."

Brigitte smiled and said, "Of course not. If you bring the two big ones, I can get them to try on their waist coats while they're there."

We laughed as we looked over and saw her staring at Hal and Tank. They were larger than life. Over the next 15 minutes, each of the girls went into the bathroom with Brigitte. When it was Julie's turn, I joined her and we both had our measurements taken. When we came out, we joined the men again and Brigitte said, "Gentlemen, in order for me to ensure that I order enough of the various fabrics that I need to make your garments, I need to take your upper body measurements. We can do this here or we can go into the back hall for a bit of privacy if you'd like."

Carlos was the first to stand. He looked over at Pino and said, "Give me a moment. I'll be right back."

Carlos walked over and talked to Pino for a minute. When he returned, he was grinning and said, "We can use the office at the back. I'll go first."

I watched as Carlos followed Brigitte into the back office and sat down with a sigh. "What's wrong Bomber?" I looked up to see Tank staring at me.

I smiled and said, "My leg hurts a bit, that's all. I have some pain killers in my purse if you'll hand it over.

Tank reached beside him and handed me my purse. I pulled out the bottle of pills, grabbed a glass of water from the pitcher and took two pills. By the time I was finished, Carlos was back and sending Lester to get measured. Carlos took the pill bottle from me and took one a dose as well. He stole my water to swallow the pill and handed it back to me.

Lester returned and sent Bobby back. Bobby returned a few minutes later and sent Hal. Tank followed Hal and Ron went last.

**_Ron's POV_**

I walked back into the office and smiled at Brigitte. She introduced herself and explained that she needed me to take off all but my dress shirt above the waist and that she'd be measuring my waist, chest, neck, shoulder circumference and the distance between my collar bone and my waist.

I took off my jacket and stood there a little awkwardly. It has been a long time since a woman other than Rachel has put her hands on me. Brigitte moved closer and held up a measuring tape. To distract me while she measured my waist, she asked "How do you know Carlos."

I didn't want to delve into our complicated history so I just said, "Carlos and I have been friends for a while now. I just recently started to work for him."

Brigitte moved on to my arm and asked, "What do you do at RangeMan?"

"I'm designing the office buildings for RangeMan. The ones in Boston and here in Trenton were destroyed in the attacks, so we're trying to get things back up and running as soon as possible."

"That's really great. I offered to do the interior decorating for free but Carlos refused. He hired me for this instead though, so it wasn't a total loss."

I smiled at Brigitte and said, "I'm sure Carlos' aversion to your suggestion was based on the work for free aspect and not your skills as an interior designer. Carlos asked me to design and help build a house for him and Steph, and when I offered to do it for free, he refused. He wanted to pay me with my own house that I could design and build however I wanted. He's not a man to accept anything without compensation to the other party. I'd say it's a flaw, but it really isn't."

"Wow. That explains things a little more. I explained what it would cost for me to design a wedding dress for Stephanie and he followed that by asking about the rest of the wedding party. I gave him a lower price than I'd normally charge and now I know why he laughed and told me to try again."

"He's a good man. Because of his job and his past, a lot of people underestimate him. That actually works to his advantage in his line of work."

Brigitte nodded and said, "You're all done. It was nice to meet you Ron."

"Same here. It was nice to have a conversation with another adult that was not dominated on some of the more complicated aspects of my life and my new role as a single father."

"It was a pleasure. Let's go back out to the others. I still have a flower girl and a ring bearer to meet."

"Ah, those would be 2 of my kids."

Brigitte looked at me oddly and asked, "Is Julie yours as well? I thought she was Carlos' daughter?"

I smiled and nodded. I looked down at my hands and said, "Julie is Carlos' biological daughter. I married her mother when she was just a baby and adopted her. Until recently, I was legally her father. When I filed for divorce, those rights ended, but Carlos would never take her away from me. I love her as much as my own children and he knows it."

"I'm sorry if I brought up some bad memories and thoughts Ron. Julie is a wonderful kid and that's down to you. You said that Carlos is a good man, so I'm sure that things will work out with all of you."

I smiled at Brigitte and we walked out to others. I looked at Julie and she gave me a funny look. She didn't come over and talk to me, but I could tell something was on her mind. I was distracted away from Julie when I heard Emma say, "I don't want to wear a purple dress."

I looked over to my youngest child and almost laughed at the indignant look on her face. Stephanie was standing beside her and said, "You don't have to wear a purple dress sweetie. I was actually hoping that you'd wear a cream coloured dress. Would you be OK with that?"

Emma looked up at Stephanie and said, "It's better than purple. Could I wear a green dress? I like green."

**_Stephanie's POV_**

I didn't want to say no to Emma's request so I looked up at Brigitte who said, "Why don't you and Steph come over here by the light where we are better able to see. I can show you some colours that would match the dresses that are already going to be made. This way, you can choose your colour."

Emma agreed and she, Steph and I returned to the table by the window. Emma sat beside me and Steph was across from us. I pulled out a fabric swatch book and started flipping through the pages. I pointed out a silvery grey satin. Emma touched it and said, "That might be OK. What are the other colours?"

I flipped through the book a bit more until I came to a pale apple green that was so close to cream that it would be hard to tell in anything other than direct sunlight. Emma took one look at the fabric and said, "That's green. I can wear green?"

I looked up at Steph who nodded. I made note of the fabric number and said, "If you like this colour, then you can wear green. Can I put a purple ribbon on the dress? It would only be one, but it would help it match the other dresses and the flowers."

Emma's little face scrunched up and then she smiled. "I think that would be OK. I don't hate purple, but I don't like it enough to want a whole dress in that colour."

"Great. I just need to measure you so I can make the perfect dress for you. Will you come with me for a few minute? Stephanie will join us so you know you are safe."

Emma nodded and the three of us went back into the office. As Brigitte was measuring Emma, I looked at Emma and said, "Let's hope you don't have a growth spurt just before the wedding eh Emma?"

Brigitte laughed and said, "If she does, it will only be in height. I can make the dress longer and only put the hem in after the final fittings. It won't be a problem."

When Brigitte was finished, we returned to the group and I looked over at Diego. "It's your turn now Dude. You can match the men and everything if you want."

Diego's face lit up and he asked, "Can I even wear a waistcoat and tie?"

"Of course you can. Let's go talk to Brigitte and get you measured up."

"While we were in the back office, Brigitte looked at me and asked, "What about a lighter grey suit for Diego here? It would match the guys and he can still wear it afterward for other events."

I looked down at Diego and asked, "What do you think? Do you want to wear a suit that is a little lighter than the rest of the men? Or do you want to match them exactly?"

Diego thought about it and then he said, "I think a slightly lighter suit would be fine. I would like my waistcoat to match the silver and cream one that Carlos gets to wear. Would that be possible with the lighter coloured suit?"

Brigitte nodded and said, "It sure would. I will show you the two fabric colours so you can see the difference."

We followed Brigitte back out to her bag where she pulled out another book. She flipped through the pages and found two grey woollen fabrics that were only a few shades different. I pulled out the two purple swatches from the dresses and laid them over the greys. They matched very well. Diego nodded and said, "I could even wear that suit again after the wedding if there was something I needed a suit for."

Brigitte smiled and Diego went back to join his Dad. I looked at the 4 colours and said, "I was wondering about the wedding dress Brigitte. Since I've been married before, white doesn't really seem appropriate. Would off-white or cream colour match these?"

Brigitte flipped through her second book and pulled open a page of varying white shades. She held up the crisp white and held it against the 4 colours we had already chosen. It looked great. She then held up a few other colours. The further she got away from the white, the less appealing the match. She looked up at me and I sighed. "I guess I'll need to stick with white eh?"

Brigitte smiled and pulled out a second page of white fabrics. These were not white, but they were not cream either. She saw the surprised look on my face and said, "These are the off-white lace fabrics I have. Because they vary in texture, they look crisper and cleaner."

I reached out and touched one of the laces and said, "Wow, I really like that one."

Brigitte smiled and said, "I thought you might. I will make a mini mock up using this fabric. It has natural scalloped shapes so they will look beautiful along the open back."

I grinned and said, "I can't believe that we have the wedding clothing pretty much sorted already. You have been absolutely wonderful Brigitte."

"It was and will be my pleasure. I love doing this sort of work."

Brigitte and I walked back over to the group. As soon as we arrived, Carlos stood and handed both Brigitte and me a glass of champagne. "Thank you all for coming and being a part of this special occasion for Steph and me. I'd also like to thank Brigitte for agreeing to do all this in such a short timeframe."

I raised my glass and said, "To Brigitte."

Everyone followed suit and we talked and drank a bit more until the open champagne ran out. I made one final speech. I raised my voice and said, "Thanks for coming today everyone. I would like to make one request. Please keep what we talked about today to yourself. I don't want all of our wedding plans spreading around the Burg. If anyone asks you about your dress or what you'll be wearing, simply tell them that they'll have to wait and see like the rest of the world."

Everyone agreed to keep things under wraps and finished up their food and drinks. Since it was a Saturday, everyone had plans, so they started to file out. Brigitte was the first to leave because she had a train to catch. Bobby offered to drive her to the train station and once they left, Mary Lou made a break for it, quickly followed by Val. They both had kids under less than ideal supervision, so I could understand their hasty retreat.

Lester and Fiona were the next to leave. They had appointments to look at apartments and wanted to get started early. That reminded me of our need to move closer to Trenton. I would talk to Carlos about it a little later. Tank and Lula left and then Ron invited us to their place for dinner. I figured Ron wanted to hear the news on Rachel, so when Carlos turned Ron's offer down, I took the kids outside with their bodyguards so Carlos and Ron could talk.

**_Carlos' POV_**

"Ron, there is still no word from Agent Saunders. He said that the tests could take up to 5 days depending on the backlog? It is high priority so I expect we'll hear something soon. I know it's hard, but try not to think about it. Spend time with your kids and go and do something fun. There's a zoo not too far from here in West Orange."

Ron nodded and said, "That's a great idea. I'll look it up online when I get home and let you know if we leave town tomorrow. "

"Thanks Ron. I'll call you if I hear anything from Agent Saunders or my guys in Miami. Call if you need anything, even if it's just to talk."

Ron smiled at me and then we walked out to meet the kids. They were all standing around being teased by Stephanie, Woody and Hal. I guess the shift changed while we were in the restaurant. We said goodbye to the kids and Ron. I wrapped my arms around my Babe and we waved as they drove away. As soon as they were out of sight, my Babe turned in my arms and said, "I guess we should head home. It's a long drive and it's been an exciting day."

I smiled and kissed my Babe gently on the lips and asked, "Do you think you have the energy to stop and look at a house? While you and the girls were talking to Brigitte, my real estate agent called to tell me about a house. She's currently busy showing Lester and Fiona around a bunch of apartments, but she did say that the owner of the house is home and she'd be willing to show us around."

"Do we know anything about this house?"

"Not a thing. I gave the real estate agent a list of things I wanted and this is the only one she has found so far."

"What sort of things do you want in a temporary house?"

I smiled at my Babe and said, "A two-car garage, privacy from neighbours, 4 bedrooms so the kids and other friends or family can come and visit, a study or an office, a large basement that could be used as an at-home gym, no trees or woods within a 100 yard radius, a pool, a patio or balcony."

"Wow that sounds like some house."

"It was a wish list. The only 2 that are mandatory are the tree line and the garage."

My Babe smiled and said, "OK. Do we need to call the owner to let her know that we are interested in seeing her house?"

I nodded and made a quick call. After talking to the owner, I turned to my Babe and said, "If we go now, she will meet us there show us around. She no longer lives there and has to go out later this evening, so we need to hurry."

We jumped in the car and drove to the north side of Trenton, not too far away from the plot of land I own. I pulled into the driveway and looked at the outside of the house. It was beautiful. I could tell by the size of the house and the attached garage that it would definitely be large enough.

We climbed out of the car and were greeted at the door by the owner.

"Hello Mr. Manoso. Please call me Olivia. I hope you guys have good imaginations because there is no furniture in the house to get an idea of size."

I smiled at the woman and said, "Thanks Olivia, this is my fiancée Stephanie. We don't currently have any furniture, so it will be a great opportunity to start from scratch."

She shook hands with my Babe and then showed us around the house. There were only three bedrooms because the 4th had been converted into a study, but that didn't put me off. The house felt lived in and that was what mattered. There were three bathrooms in the house. One was in the master bedroom, one was on the ground floor and the third was for guests. All three bedrooms were generous sizes with adequate storage.

The kitchen was state-of-the art and the study had a spectacular view over the back of the house. It even had its own private little patio and sliding doors. There was a large patio off the living room. There was no pool, but there was a perfectly manicured garden instead. It was obvious that Olivia liked to spend time in the garden.

After we had been through the house, my Babe looked at Olivia and asked, "May I ask why you're selling? It is obvious that you love this house."

Olivia smiled sadly and said, "My husband and I built this house 35 years ago and it's just become too much for me take care of myself. My Walter died 5 years ago and my kids have finally convinced me to move closer to them in Newark."

Stephanie took Olivia's hands and said, "I'm so sorry for your loss. My Grandmother lives with my parents and it's been really nice to have her nearby. I'm sure your kids and grandkids will love having you closer."

Olivia smiled at my Babe and said, "I also love seeing them more often. I was a bit isolated up here on my own. I'm going to miss this house, but I'm also looking forward to spending more time with my grandkids."

I looked at my Babe and raised my eyebrow. She knew what I was asking and she nodded her head. I then looked at Olivia and asked, "We really like this place Olivia. I will contact my real estate agent and ask her to put in an offer for your asking price."

Olivia seemed happy with that and said, "I'll gladly accept your offer Mr. Manoso. I hope you and your lovely fiancée will be as happy here as Walter and I were."

We thanked Olivia and drove back to the beach house. My Babe was silent for a few minutes, but then she looked at me and said, "I thought we were just going to rent a place Carlos. I had no idea that you were going to buy a house. What are you going to do once we build our dream house?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We can sell the house or use it as a safe house or find some other use for it. We need to live somewhere and it was a lovely house. I could tell that you also liked it."

My Babe nodded and smiled. "It's a beautiful house. I can picture living there. A few things need updated, but that's just cosmetic work. It won't take long at all."

I smiled and asked, "What cosmetic changes do you want to make?"

"The first thing would be to lift up that carpet in the living room. It's seen better days and I bet it's hardwood under there. The rest is just painting and furnishing."

"I agree Babe. I'll call the real estate agent when we get to the house."

We settled into the drive and spent the rest in silence. I looked over at one point and saw that my Babe had fallen asleep. I smiled and looked forward to spending less time driving back and forth and more time with my Babe in my arms.

* * *

If anyone is interested, I do have links to everything I tried to describe here. I can put them in my profile as you can't trick the story editor into accepting links. I can also wait until the wedding actually happens and then add the links then. Your choice.

Let me know what you think. :)


	22. Chapter 22

Another chapter for you.. thanks for reading and enjoy...

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**_Steph's POV_**

It was a little after dinner time when Carlos and I got back to the beach house. Neither of us felt much like cooking so we hopped back into the car and drove to a restaurant on the shore that sold takeaway. Carlos placed an order and we sat on the edge of the boardwalk, looking out to see until our order was ready.

We were sitting on the sofa watching something mind numbing a little while later when my cell phone rang. Carlos handed me my purse and I rummaged through it looking for the ringing phone. I looked and saw that it was my mother. I groaned and then answered.

"Hello dear. I just wanted to tell you that I met with Maria and Ella today. We went to the park and all agree that it's a lovely place. We're glad you are getting married there."

"Thanks Mom."

"We talked and we've pretty much worked out exactly what we want. The only part now is to make the actual arrangements and sent out invitations for the party. Some will be done via the phone, but more local people will get them in the post or have them hand delivered. Ella is going to check with you about colours and try to get them ordered on Monday. She has a friend who owns a print shop that can rush the order and give us a discount. Did you know that Ella can do calligraphy? I always wanted to learn, but never quite got around to it. She said she'd teach me."

My mom chuckled a little and then said, "Maria is a lovely woman. We got on really well. We have decided that the food offered for the party wasn't really what we wanted, so we have decided to get back together on Wednesday and present a list of appetisers and other finger foods that we can make for the party."

"Mom, that's a lot of work. Are you sure you don't want to use a caterer?"

"The menu options were a bit limited for our tastes. There weren't many Italian options and there weren't any Cuban options at all. Maria seemed quite sure that she wanted to make some authentic Cuban food. I've never had Cuban food but Maria assured me that I'd like it."

"Oh you will Mom. I had some at her house on Friday and it was delicious."

"That's good to know. I was worried it might be too spicy for me. My only worry now is that there won't be enough storage space in our freezer or in our kitchen to make everything."

"We'll figure something out Mom. Carlos and I went to look at a house today, and if we can move in soon, you can use the kitchen there. There is plenty of room and it has a huge freezer and a deep chest freezer in the garage. There should be heaps of space."

"Oh how lovely. I can't wait to see your house. Did you buy it or will you just rent it until your other house is built."

"Carlos wants to buy the house. It will take a while to build our house and we can always sell it afterward."

"That makes sense. Paying rent is like throwing your money away. You have roof over your head, but you aren't investing in anything. You have nothing to show."

"Yes Mom, I know what you mean."

"I know dear. How did your surprise go today? Carlos wouldn't tell me what it was, but I could tell it was something big."

"It was huge Mom. Do you know who Brigitte Travis is?"

"Isn't she a famous fashion designer?"

"Yes. She's designing my wedding dress and the dresses for the girls. She's also going to make the waistcoats and the ties for all the guys. "

"That is amazing. How did Carlos pull that off? Does he know her?"

"It's a funny story actually. Brigitte was being stalked and two RangeMan guys went out of their way to help her. They saved her life and put a very dangerous criminal behind bars. She offered to do the interior decorating for the new RangeMan buildings free-of-charge but Carlos hired her to design our wedding instead."

"That's wonderful dear. I can't wait to hear all about it. Maybe we can go out for lunch one of these days and you can show me what you have already planned. I know you want to do things yourself, but I'd still like to be involved. I actually have a great checklist and wedding planner that I bought you when I thought you might marry Joseph. I should give that to you so you can keep track of your plans."

"That would be nice Mom. Carlos and I will be pretty busy in the next few weeks just getting back into the swing of things with RangeMan, but I'm sure we can swing a lunch or two. I have fabric swatches for all of the various garments. At first, Val was a bit concerned with the colour I had picked out. It didn't really suit her colouring. Instead of changing the colour, Brigitte suggested we try the same colour, but a few shades lighter. That worked much better for Val and since she's my Matron of Honour, a different coloured dress won't be too bad."

"I'm glad you are both happy. I remember how uncomfortable you were with your eggplant coloured dress. Can you tell me what colour you chose?"

"Sure. I chose a greyish purple for all of the ladies except Val. Her dress will be a lighter, more lavender grey colour."

"That sounds lovely Steph. I can't wait to see swatches."

"I will check with Carlos and see what our schedule is like during the week. I will call you and we can make plans to meet up for lunch one day. I'll bring everything I have so far about the wedding and share it with you. I want to keep my plans under wraps as much as possible. If everything gets out to the Burg, all our hard work will be wasted."

"I can understand that. If you show me your plans, I promise not to breathe a word of it to anyone. I can't say the same for your Grandma though."

"I thought of that as well. It might be best to hold off telling her any of the plans this early."

"Let me know when and where to meet you dear. I have to go and get the kitchen cleaned before bed. I'll talk to you soon."

I got off the phone with my Mom and turned to see Carlos staring at me. "What?"

"I just don't remember ever witnessing you smile when you talked to your mother before."

"Yeah, I think this is a first. She was excited to tell me about meeting your mother and Ella. It sounds like they had a lot of fun."

"That's good. As long as they don't interfere, I'll be happy to include them in our plans."

"Me too."

"I don't know if you noticed Babe, but while you were talking to your mother, I went into the other room and called the real estate agent. She says that our offer was accepted and we can exchange keys as soon as my lawyer sends over the necessary paperwork to Olivia's lawyer. I called my lawyer and he's going to hand deliver it first thing on Monday. That means that we can move in next week."

"Wow, that is soon. We'll need to arrange bedroom furniture at least."

"Would you be OK if I got Ella to do that? She picked out all the furniture for my old apartment at Haywood."

"Sure. I just don't want her to go to too much trouble."

"I'm sure she won't. She'll probably love the challenge. She doesn't have too much on her plate at the moment."

"Actually, Ella has been put in charge of the invitations for the party. I was also going to call her and ask her to see if she could find something suitable for the wedding invitations. I want to match our colours, and if we can match our colours for the engagement party that would be really cool."

"Let's call Ella first thing in the morning. I bet the printers will be closed tomorrow, but all of the furniture stores will be open. Maybe we can meet Ella for lunch and go shopping together. She would know the best places to get furniture."

"That sounds like a great idea. Do you think it's too late to call Ella now?"

Carlos looked at his watch and shrugged. It was only 8:30, so she'd probably still be awake. He pulled out his phone and dialled.

**_Carlos' POV_**

"Hello Carlos, what can I do for you?"

"Hi Ella. We bought a house today and we were hoping to bribe you with lunch tomorrow in hopes that you might consider helping us furnish the house. We want to move in this week and we need somebody who can organise delivery and know what we need. Stephanie also talked to her mother and she mentioned that you were in charge of the invitations for the engagement party. Steph wants to show you our colour scheme in hopes that we can have the engagement party invitations match the wedding invitations."

"Hold on a second. I'll just go talk to Luis for a moment."

Ella put the phone down and we could hear muffled voices in the background. A few moments later, Ella came back on the phone and said, "Luis and I would be happy to help. Luis' eyes lit up when I explained that you needed our help. I think he's a bit bored. When I mentioned that you bought a new house and that you needed our help, he started to go through his tools to make sure everything was in working order."

"Thanks Ella. We won't get the keys until Monday or Tuesday, so whatever we buy tomorrow, we'll have to have delivered or take with us."

"That should be fine Carlos. We both are driving SUVs that can store a lot of stuff. What time and where should we meet tomorrow?"

"Where would be the best place to get what we need?"

"Um, we can definitely get furniture and basic things here in Trenton. At a later date, I'd suggest going to Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth for finishing touches."

"OK, we'll stay local tomorrow. Why don't we meet at Rossini's as 12? I'll make a reservation under my name in case you beat us there. Steph will bring her wedding notebook and show you what we've chosen so far."

"That sounds fine. We'll see you tomorrow."

After I got off the phone, I turned and looked at my Babe. She had cuddled into my side and was practically asleep. I contemplated picking her up and carrying her to bed, but I knew it wouldn't be good for my back. Instead, I gently kissed my Babe until she groaned and woke up.

"What's wrong Carlos?"

"Nothing is wrong Babe. I just didn't want to carry you upstairs. I was afraid I'd hurt you because my back is not at full strength. Come on, let's go to bed."

I helped Stephanie climb the stairs and after a brief trip to the bathroom, we both climbed into bed and fell asleep within moments of me wrapping my arms around my Babe.

**_Steph's POV_**

I woke up the following morning and found Carlos splayed across me and the bed. I turned my head and saw that it was a little after 9AM already. If we were going to be in Trenton at noon, I needed to get up and get moving. I'm not the fastest person in the morning, but my cast means that showers take even longer.

I tried to roll away from Carlos, but he just mumbled and held me tighter. "Carlos, wake up. It's time to get up."

"No Babe. Stay. We don't have to get up for hours yet."

"Carlos, it's 9:15 already. We don't have hours."

Carlos' head popped up and looked at the clock. He was surprised that he slept so late, but he didn't complain or anything. He just sat up, pulled on a pair of sweat pants and said, "I'll go get breakfast started. Have a quick shower and come down as soon as you're ready. I'll have a shower after you."

I nodded and walked into the bathroom. Who am I kidding? I hobbled into the bathroom. I quickly wrapped my cast and had a quick shower, or as quick as I'm capable of showering. I decided to wait until after breakfast to worry about my hair and makeup, so I hurried down to the kitchen to find an omelette and some fruit salad waiting for me.

I looked around and didn't see Carlos anywhere. I assumed he was outside, so I carried my breakfast out onto the patio. There, I found Carlos' empty plate and no Carlos. I heard a splash and saw that Carlos was in the pool. He was swimming lengths as best he could with his sore back and the short pool. He looked up when he saw me sit down and said, "I'll just do a few more and then I'll run up and take a shower."

I smiled and watched his muscles move under the water. I probably drooled as I ate, but I didn't care. The man was hot, that's H - O - T hot. Carlos climbed out of the pool and kissed me on his way past. I watched him leave and then focused on finishing my breakfast without spilling it all over myself. That happens to me a lot, especially when Carlos is half naked or kisses me. Unfortunately, my wardrobe is rather limited at the moment, so I had to focus and be careful.

Carlos came down just as I was putting my clean and dried dishes away. He looked around and said, "You didn't have to wash mine Babe, I was going to do it when I got down."

"That's OK. I washed them when I washed mine. It wasn't a problem. I'm going to run up and finish getting ready. I have about 25 minutes right?"

"Yes. We should get to the restaurant on time if we leave in 25 minutes."

I ran upstairs and spent the next 20 minutes taming my hair and putting on some basic makeup. When I hopped down the stairs, Carlos was at the bottom waiting. He helped me with my purse and practically dragged me out to the car. "What's the rush Carlos?"

"I just got a call from Olivia. She said that if we could meet her at the house before lunch, we could have the keys today. She is going back to Philadelphia and doesn't see the point in waiting for the lawyers to give us the keys since we're paying cash for the house."

"Oh, OK. Do we need to call Ella and let her know we're running a few minutes late?"

"Let's wait until we're closer to Trenton. We might just make it in time if we don't hit too much traffic."

The traffic gods must have been smiling down on us because we made it to our new house in record time. We picked up the keys from Olivia and exchanged contact details before making it to the restaurant with 3 minutes to spare. We walked in hand-in-hand and a little out of breath to find Ella and Luis already seated.

They stood as we approached and greeted us with hugs and handshakes. "Thanks for joining us," Carlos said. Luis leaned over to Carlos and asked questions about the house and Ella looked at me and said, "Carlos tells me that you have chosen your colours for the wedding. Is that true?"

I smiled at Ella and pulled out a folder I have been collecting all of the wedding details in until I get that book from my mother. I opened the folder and pulled out both pieces of purple fabric from the bridesmaid dresses. "This darker colour is being worn by 4 of the bridesmaids. The other colour is for Val. The guys will wear purple accented damask waist coats and matching ties. Carlos and Diego will wear silver and cream waistcoats and matching ties."

"So I take it that your wedding colours are this dusky purple and silver?"

"Exactly. The men will be wearing charcoal suits and Diego's will be slightly lighter."

"I have an idea for the invitations. Does your phone have internet access? I could show you what I mean."

"No, but Carlos' does."

Without me even having to ask, Carlos reached into his pocket and handed me his phone. He had obviously been following our conversation while he talked to Luis about the new house. I opened the web browser and gave the phone to Ella. For a woman of her age, she navigated the phone like an expert. Moments later she showed me an image of the perfect wedding invitation. The envelopes were cream and there were several cards included. The actual wedding invitation had a silver embossed damask pattern and there was a purple ribbon across the packet. I looked up at Ella and said, "These are perfect. Do you think you can get a matching invitation for the engagement party?"

"Probably. My friend owns a store that prints wedding invitations and this is one that she's just added to her catalogue. You'll be the first to order them so I'm sure we can work something out. Do you have any preferences on what it says?"

I looked over at Carlos, who was still talking to Luis. I really wanted his input on the invitations, so I said, "I will leave it up to you and our mothers for the party invitations. Carlos and I will come up with something for the wedding invitations and try to give it to you before you visit your friend."

"I was planning on going tomorrow afternoon. Is that enough time?"

I looked at Carlos and he nodded to me so I confirmed that we'd have time to discuss the invitation text before tomorrow.

Ella took one last look at the invitation on Carlos' phone and then handed it back. She looked at me and said, "If I could take part of that swatch with me, I could see if they could better match the ribbon colour."

I looked at the swatch I had. I didn't need the whole thing so I rummaged around in my bag until I found a pair of nail scissors. I cut the swatch in half and gave part to Ella. She carefully wrapped the fabric in a clean tissue and placed it in a side pocket inside her purse.

A few minutes later, our food arrived and we talked about the new house while we ate. Luis suggested that we go to the house beforehand and take a few measurements to ensure we didn't buy anything that wouldn't fit in the space. Carlos agreed to this and when we were finished eating, we headed to our new house. Luis and Carlos went off to measure the master bedroom and the office.

While the men were off doing practical things, Ella looked around the kitchen and said, "My, this is a lovely kitchen."

"It is indeed. I told my mother that if we were in the house on time, she could come over and use the kitchen to make her portion of the food for the party. There is a large chest freezer out in the garage."

"Oh, that's good to know. I can cook easily enough at my place, but there is nowhere to store any of the food. Most of it can be made ahead of time, so if there's room in your freezer, that would be helpful."

"I'm sure there's plenty of room. My mother also has a large deep freezer, so between the two of them, there should be loads of space."

The men rejoined us and Luis had a notepad in his hand and a pencil behind his ear. He looked at me and said, "Carlos tells me that the master bedroom is the priority furniture-wise. If we can find a bed and some other bedroom furniture today, we can get you moved in as soon as the legal paperwork is out of the way."

"That sounds great," I said. We followed Luis as he drove to the nearest furniture store. While we were driving, Carlos looked at me and said, "We're also going to need bed linens and towels and stuff. I'm not sure we will have the strength to get everything today."

"We can get what we absolutely need today. As long as we have bed linens, towels, pillows and a duvet, the rest can wait."

When we stopped, Carlos helped me out of the car and then held my hand as I hobbled around the furniture shop on a single crutch. We looked at several bed frames, but we both came back to a relatively simple looking solid oak frame. We sat on a few mattresses, but ended up buying the same one that was on the bed in Haywood. We also bought two dressers, a dressing table with mirror and stool, two bedside tables and a tallboy cabinet that matched the bed frame. This took us less than 45 minutes in total and Ella was really impressed with how quickly we were able to dismiss things and come to a common decision.

We arranged for the furniture to be delivered on Tuesday afternoon. Luis volunteered to be at the house when it was delivered because Carlos and I had a client meeting that afternoon. Now that we had the minimum bits of furniture, Ella suggested that we look around to see if there was anything that jumped out at us for the living room and the dining rooms.

Carlos and I walked around and came to the same conclusion. We liked the oak furniture and ended up picking out a TV cabinet, a coffee table, end tables and a few matching book cases. We then walked down to the other end of the showroom and both moved towards the same sofa. It was relatively plain. It was made of a grey woven fabric and it looked very comfortable. We sat down and immediately smiled. This sofa was perfect.

The sales assistant told us that there was also a matching recliner chair and a normal chair. We ordered two of each. The sofa could be delivered on Tuesday with the rest of the furniture, but the chairs would have to be ordered and they could take up to a month. We were fine with that. The last thing we did in that store was pick out a dining set. Again, it was oak and it extended and could seat up to 8 people. The set only came with 6 chairs, so we ordered another two. The extra two were the only ones with arms.

After 1 hour and 30 minutes, we had enough furniture for the house to feel like a home. Our next stop was to go and buy some of those sheets that I used to love so much. That and to buy some fluffy towels, some pillows and a duvet. Ella led the way and before we knew it, we had a few bags of essentials that would get us through until we had a chance to get out and get some more.

Ella promised that she would help us out as much as needed in between her work at the new office and Ron's house. She assured me that she would have plenty of time and that shopping for us was one of her favourite things to do. She even offered to top up our wardrobes, but Carlos only wanted some RangeMan uniforms and some new boots. I also needed some new uniforms, but I quietly told Ella that both Carlos and I needed some jeans, t-shirts and other basics. Ella winked and said that she'd get us sorted out.

Ella and Luis ended up taking all of the purchases with them and Carlos and we headed back to Point Pleasant. We stopped along the way to buy a few things to have a nice relaxing meal. We baked some low-fat Brie and dipped fruit, raw vegetables and bread into the soft gooey cheese. We had some olives and beet root as well as a green salad. It was a relatively healthy meal that was followed by some of Ella's date, cashew and chocolate health bars.

Carlos did a bit of work on his laptop as we sat in front of the television. At 10:30, I decided it was time for bed so I went up and got ready. By the time I exited the bathroom, Carlos had come into the bedroom. We both climbed in and had a brief conversation about getting up in time for our meeting the following morning. Carlos kissed me goodnight and pulled my back to his front and we both fell asleep within minutes.

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Thanks for reading and all of your encouragement.


	23. Chapter 23

Hiya, here's another chapter. It's not as long as some of the more recent ones, but that can't be helped. The story is just like that. Enjoy!

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**_Steph's POV _**

Monday was a bit nerve-racking. Carlos and I had 2 client meetings with existing customers and I was a bit rusty on our services. "Just follow my lead Babe. You'll be fine. I want you there not only for your people skills, but because you see things that others often miss."

I relented and dressed in one of my new business suits. We drove to the first customer site and the meeting was quite pleasant. The customer owned a luxury car showroom and dealership. He had trouble in the past with cars being stolen from his lot, but ever since RangeMan took over, nothing had been taken.

He introduced himself and insisted that we call him Roger. He showed us around the building and the surrounding lots and Carlos pointed out a few areas that could be vulnerable. I took notes as they talked and when we returned to the office, I went over them to make sure I didn't miss anything. I even made a few suggestions of my own.

When we left, Roger seemed happy with the suggestions we had made and we promised to get a quote to him as soon as possible. We all shook hands and when we climbed into the car, Carlos turned to me and said, "You did great in there Babe. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks. I was really nervous. Hopefully I'll do better this afternoon. What should we do in the meantime?"

The tips of Carlos' lips curled into a slow smile. I knew what he had on his mind, but there simply wasn't time for that. I rolled my eyes at him and pulled on my seatbelt. Carlos' face turned serious and he said, "I need to stop by the Haywood site to see how things are coming along there. I need an estimate on when we can start rebuilding our offices. After that, we should find somewhere quiet to come up with a proposal for Roger and maybe get some lunch. Not necessarily in that order though."

I thought for a moment and said, "I can call my mother to see if we can go there for lunch. We could then use their dining table to work on the proposal. I could also show my mother some of my plans if Grandma Mazur isn't around."

"I think that's a good plan. Why don't you call your mother now? If will give her a bit of notice then maybe she can get away from your grandmother long enough for the two of you to talk."

I nodded and dug in my purse for my phone. After a quick conversation with my mother, I put my phone back in my handbag and turned to Carlos. "As luck would have it, Grandma Mazur is out of town. She and her friends Elaine and Marion went to Atlantic City for a few days. Both my parents are expecting us for lunch at 12. I did mention that we might be a few minutes late and she said that was fine. It isn't a hot lunch."

Carlos drove to Haywood. It was basically a demolition site at the moment. There were dozens of workers and heavy machinery clearing the remains of the old RangeMan building. The next door warehouse was already gone and that site has been cleared. The warehouse wasn't a very substantial structure, so it was easy to remove.

The difficulty or so Carlos was told by the foreman, were the subbasements from the old building. They were structurally sound, but they needed to be removed before the new building could be started. Carlos asked for an estimate for when the work would be finished. The foreman looked at a few bits of paper in his mobile office and estimated 6 weeks.

Carlos was happy with this estimate and I was surprised. There looked like there was still a lot of work left. The foremen suggested that he have regular contact with Ranger over the next few weeks. If things could be moved along quicker than the estimate, Ranger would need to know.

After Haywood, we headed to my parents' house. As usual, my mother was waiting for me at the door. What surprised me was that my father was also there. We walked up to the house and I kissed and hugged my dad and was led inside by my mother. I left Carlos to greet my dad as my mother dragged me upstairs.

Once in her bedroom, she pulled open a drawer in her dresser and pulled out a very pretty album-like book. She handed it to me and said, "This is sort of like a keepsake book so you can retain your wedding plans. It has a planner, a checklist and lots of other helpful hints."

I flipped through the book quickly and agreed that it would be very helpful. It would allow me to better organise my plans. I looked up at my Mom and noticed that she had a tear in her eye. I quickly stood and hugged her. We're not a very physical family, so this was out of the norm. Instead of pulling away and putting on a brave face, my Mom wrapped her arms tightly around me and said, "I'm so glad that you are happy baby. I know I've harped on you for a long time about getting married, but I'd rather see you happy than wedded. I'm just glad you have found both with Carlos."

"Thanks Mom. I really am happy with Carlos."

We both wiped the tears that were in our eyes and headed downstairs to find Carlos and my dad deep in conversation. I overheard something about a car and decided to leave them to it. I went into the kitchen to help my mother bring a platter of lunch meats, cheeses, tomatoes and onions out to the table. She had a second platter that was filled with cucumber, carrot and celery sticks with a sour cream and onion dip. There was also a green salad.

When we placed everything on the table, Carlos looked around at the food and then at my mother and said, "This looks wonderful Ellen. I know you went to extra trouble just for me, so thank you very much."

My mother blushed at Carlos' comment, but decided to hand out plates and fetch the bread. The bread was fresh from the bakery down the street. It was still a little warm. At first, I groaned with I saw that it wasn't white bread, but when I tasted it, I had to stifle a surprise groan.

"What kind of bread is this Mom? It's delicious."

"Sour dough bread. It's healthier than white bread, but doesn't taste as gravelly as whole grain bread."

I nodded and filled my sandwich with some meat, cheese, tomatoes and topped it with a few salad leaves and some mayo. After lunch, my dad invited Carlos to go out into the garage. As soon as we cleared the table, my mother said, "The dishes can wait. Come and see what we've planned so far for the engagement party."

I followed my mother into the living room and we sat side-by-side on the sofa. My mother had a spiral bound notebook that she laid on the table and opened it up. The first thing she showed me was the guest list. It was huge. I looked at my mother who looked a bit sheepish. "I was hoping you could help me whittle this list down a little. When I met with Maria and Ella, we decided to try and keep the list of guests under 250. If we could get the number of guests be less than 200 that would be even better."

I looked over the list and then at my mother. I took a pencil and started marking asterisks beside the people I really wanted there. I then put an 'X' beside the ones I definitely didn't want there. This included Angie Morelli, Joe's Grandma Bella and several of Grandma Mazur's kookier ex-boyfriends. I really wanted to exclude Vinnie from the list, but he was family and I thought it might cause some hard feelings. This lowered the list enough to keep my mother happy for now.

I did one final pass and put a tilde '~' beside any name that was questionable. These were the gossip kings and queens who weren't really friends of the family. I didn't rule them out, but it would help my mother if they needed to remove more people from the list later. I explained what the three marks were for and my mother nodded and made a small note in the corner. She also asked if I could make a list of my friends that I wanted to invite. She had added some names, but she was sure she forgot some. She was right. I wanted to invite several people to the engagement party. I added Sally Sweet, Mooner and Dougie, Robin Russell, Big Dog, Carl Costanza, Gina Giovichinni, Dillon Ruddick and of course, Joe Morelli.

I handed the book back to my mother and she protested a bit about inviting Joe. I looked at her and said, "Mom, Joe's been really supportive of my relationship with Carlos. He has helped RangeMan a lot since the bombing and he's an old friend. He and Carlos have even started to become friends. I would like to invite him. If he doesn't feel that is appropriate for him to go, then he simply won't go."

My mother conceded and moved on to show me a bunch of other things that they planned. They decided not to hire a caterer so they could provide some family favourites. Food and drink would be set out and replenished all evening by the hotel's wait staff. A large banner would be printed. Ella suggested that they use the same company that made the RangeMan banner, and Ella was going to run with it. Now that she knew our colours, I'm sure she is going to follow those guidelines.

I was pretty impressed with the restraint showed by our mothers and Ella. There wasn't anything overly crazy. A large decorated engagement cake would be ordered from Tasty Pastry. Maria was going to order another cake that was a Cuban specialty from her baker. There would be a bunch of other small desserts. I could see that they would be busy for days getting all the food ready. That reminded me.

"Mom, I forgot to mention that we'll be getting the keys for our new house tomorrow. The kitchen is all yours. The only problem is that it's completely bare at the moment. We have no pots, pans, table ware or glassware yet."

"I'm sure I can provide most of what I need. Space is the limiting factor here more than anything."

"OK. We'll need to buy things as well, so maybe I can just give you my credit card and you can buy what you need. I was going to go shopping one day this week, probably tomorrow or Wednesday in-between meetings."

"I know you aren't much of a cook, but maybe you can help me if you're interested."

"I'll see what I can fit into my schedule. Carlos and I are very busy over the next couple of weeks visiting customers. Evenings might work better than the day."

I talked with my mother a little longer and we decided to put off discussing my wedding plans because Carlos and I had some work to do that afternoon. Not only did we need to come up with a quote for Roger, we also needed to get our wedding invitation text sorted out. I moved over to the dining table and pulled out Carlos' laptop. I pulled up the program we used to generate quotes and then went out to the garage. I found my father and Carlos with their heads buried in an old engine block that my father has been playing with for the past 2 years.

Carlos looked up when I walked in and looked at his watch. His eyes widened and he said, "I'm really sorry Frank, but work is calling. I'd love to see more of this another time." Carlos shook hands with my father and we all trooped back inside. Carlos sat in the chair I just vacated and I sat beside him. It only took us about 20 minutes to come up with the quote for Roger. We'd print it back at the beach house tonight and get it in the mail tomorrow.

We spent the next little while talking about the wedding invitations. We agreed that we didn't want the traditional 'Parents A and Parents B request your presence, blah blah blah.' Since we were both already married at one point in time, we were also keeping the ceremony relatively secular. No hymns or bible readings during the ceremony. We wanted the ceremony and the invitations to be succinct and true to us.

In the end, we asked my parents for input. It was quite funny when my mother heard that we were having a secular ceremony. She was drinking coffee at the time and it went out her nose. She had to run to the bathroom to clean up and check for any burns. When she returned, she apologised for her reaction. In the end, she was the one that came up with the perfect text for our invitations.

Carlos took the final text and went into the hallway to call Ella. He passed on our text to Ella who was on her way to her friend's shop. We packed up our stuff and left my parents and headed to our afternoon appointment.

**_Carlos' POV _**

If my Babe ever doubted her value at RangeMan, today should have alleviated any of her misgivings. Not only was she instrumental in pointing out security holes in existing systems, she assured our customers that RangeMan was still capable of offering top notch security. During our afternoon meeting, she convinced Josh Hollister that he needed to upgrade his security cameras to the newer infrared style. He held out the last time we did an account review, but somehow, my Babe made him realise that this was in his best interest.

"Babe, I'm so proud of you. You did such a great job with Hollister today. The last time we did an account review for him, Lester suggested that new cameras would help us see and identify suspects in the dark. Hollister didn't want to spend the extra money, even though it was in his best interest. You came in today and laid things out in a way that he could understand. You gave him useful business cases where the new cameras would be useful. Without you, we'd probably only have sold him 4 more cameras. Instead, he's upgrading all of his cameras, adding an additional 6 cameras and well be doing night time monitoring of his property. That's a huge win for RangeMan."

I watched the colour of my Babe's face go from her usual alabaster to bright red. She even rolled her eyes at my comments, but I just laughed and said, "I'm being serious Babe. I mean it when I say that you are good for RangeMan."

My Babe smiled shyly at me and said, "I guess this is our last night out at the beach house for a while eh?"

I nodded and said, "We can go back there anytime you want, assuming my parents aren't using the house."

"I'd like that. I love it there."

I smiled and said, "There's a really nice restaurant that overlooks the promenade. We can eat there and then watch the sunset from the beach before heading home. Hollister isn't expecting our quote until sometime next week, so there's no rush to get home."

My Babe agreed with me and we drove to one of our favourite restaurants along the waterfront. We parked and went into the restaurant. We were greeted at the door by a waitress who seated us in a more private area of the restaurant. We had a spectacular view over the water, and since the sliding doors were open, it was like we were on our own private balcony.

I looked at my Babe and watched her stare out to sea. She loved the sound of the ocean. She even didn't mind the cacophony of the sea birds. The awe in her eyes was enough to make me smile. When she turned and looked at me with the exact same expression on her face, it melted my heart and I leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips.

She looked at me and asked, "What was that for?"

I repeated the kiss and said, "I am just expressing my love for the future Mrs. Manoso."

"And what if the future Mrs. Manoso doesn't want to change her name?"

"Oh Babe, we never talked about that. If you want to keep your name, I don't have a problem with that. I'd even support a hyphenated combination."

My Babe chuckled and said, "Actually, I think I want to change my name. It might get me away from the whole Bombshell Bounty Hunter thing once and for all."

This time, I chuckled. "Babe, the only thing that will get you away from that nickname is time and distance. Besides, if you are working full-time for RangeMan, I doubt many people will have a reason to call you that in the future."

We ordered a bottle of wine and then shared a seafood platter. After dinner, we took a long walk along the boardwalk. We walked slowly and enjoyed the fresh sea breeze. After we reached the end of the boardwalk, we turned around and started walking back toward the car.

We were about ½ ways back to the car when my phone rang. At first, I was expecting it to be Agent Saunders. I was a bit surprised when I saw that it was one of my men from Miami.

"Report."

"Sir, we have been over everything at the prison where Mrs. Martine was kept and we found something. Henry Paradis entered the prison wearing a guard uniform on the day that Mrs. Martine went missing. He had all the necessary credentials. He entered just before 3PM for the evening shift. He exited around 2AM. Both times, he was unaccompanied.

"At first, we couldn't figure out how he got entered into their system. There must have been someone on the inside. We ran financial checks to find out if anyone was bribed into adding him to their guard roster. We found that one of security guards responsible for watching the monitors added him to their system. He also turned off the security cameras in the holding area and through to the incinerator."

I stopped walking and asked, "Have you been able to track Paradis' movements after he left the prison?"

"No Sir. We are scouring all traffic cameras and we're working with the Local FBI. They have issued a state-wide alert for the car he was driving and we have patrols out searching the streets."

"OK. Has there been any news about the DNA tests?"

"Only that there is a bit of a backlog and they're supposed to be in-progress right now. You should hear something soon."

"OK Rodriquez. Good work and let me know if they get a line on Paradis."

I looked at my Babe and said, "Paradis entered the prison where Rachel was staying. He was dressed as a prison guard. He bribed one of the security specialists and Rachel's area and the path to the incinerator had no security camera coverage for a 12 hour period. It's beginning to look like Paradis is behind this whole thing and that he killed Rachel."

My Babe looked at me and said, "I hope the FBI can figure out where he was for those 5 years. His dark period might help to understand why he is doing all of this."

"Me too Babe. Me too."

We finished our walk and returned to the beach house. Once inside, my Babe started to hurry around gathering everything together. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. He grinned at me and said, "Tonight's our last night here. I want to get the packing over with so that we can enjoy what time we have left here."

She winked at me and I did the same. I gathered up our belongings and left out clean clothes for the following day. When we were finished, I dragged my Babe out onto the patio and pulled her down with me on one of the deck chairs. We sat there and kissed like horny teenagers and watched the sun go down.

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Well, there you have it. Another chapter has come and gone. Unfortunately, it will be a little while until I post my next chapter(s). I'm going away and I won't have much chance to write while I'm away. Thanks for your patience.


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